


Curved Reality: In an Alternate Universe

by adcgordon, OliversMuse



Series: Curved Reality: In an Alternate Universe [1]
Category: Arrow - Fandom, Felicity Smoak - Fandom, Oliver Queen - Fandom, olicity - Fandom
Genre: Based on a Stemily prompt, Dali is Oliver and Laurel's daughter, Infidelity based on an unhappy marriage, Oliver and Felicity are actors that work together, Oliver and Felicity are soulmates, Oliver and Feliclty are lovers, Oliver is married to Laurel but in love with Felicity, Oliver's marriage has been over for awhile, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-07-17 21:42:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 34,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19963648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adcgordon/pseuds/adcgordon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliversMuse/pseuds/OliversMuse
Summary: Oliver Queen is an actor in an unhappy marriage who has fallen in love with his costar Felicity Smoak. This story traverses their relationship and highlights what they have known all along. They are soulmates.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a collaboration with the wonderful @adcgordon (Anna). We wanted to write a story together and this is what came out of our DM's. Please note this is NOT a Stemily fic, but we did use them for the basis. Two trigger warnings:
> 
> 1) If you cannot handle infidelity then do not read this. Oliver's character is not happy in his marriage and has not been sexually active with his wife for quite some time. Some people cannot handle any type of infidelity and we respect that.
> 
> 2) If you feel anything Stemily related is not your thing then do not read this. Again, this is Oliver and Felicity but the story is loosely based on Stemily.
> 
> I never like to moderate comments on my stories because my readers are so very amazing. So again, if this it not your cup of tea, if you don't like it, if you feel it hits too close to home, please just quit reading it. We do not want or need a critique.
> 
> I do hope you will give it a chance as Anna's writing is wonderful and fun. Not sure how long this one will be. We will decide once we see how the story is accepted.
> 
> We hope you enjoy it and if you do please leave kudo and comments. As always I will answer every single one. 
> 
> Enjoy!!!

The fire at the small theater in New York should have been insignificant. The cast and crew of the popular television series were hard at work on their final season of shows in Vancouver, Canada - a continent away.

Normally they wouldn't think twice about a stage venue...especially such a small, intimate location. But Oliver Queen perked up at the first mention of the Soho building.

"That's Felicity's theater," he mumbled and quickly moved to look over his cohort's shoulder at the blurb on social media. "John, tell them I'll be right back. I - I have to make a phone call…"

"Oliver!” John tried to stop his onscreen partner but knew it was hopeless. 

The moment Oliver’s focus turned to their former coworker his mind was lost to everything else. The fact that Felicity Smoak had decided to pursue other acting roles instead of sticking with them for one final season had left an open wound. Like the character he portrayed, Oliver continuously reopened that wound on himself. 

He had loved Felicity for years and she returned his love. Much to their surprise Oliver’s _wife_ , Laurel, hadn’t turned into a complete bitch about their extra-marital relationship. Instead she seemed relieved for a while that Felicity could satisfy Oliver’s sexual pleasures.

When their daughter Dallas started to notice Oliver and Felicity’s love, she started asking to spend more time with Felicity. Laurel's jealousy had pushed Felicity to search for other work choices. She found work in New York, a place where Oliver couldn’t quickly get to her and where she was learning to live without him.

Oliver didn’t speak to anyone on his way out of the studio. He made his way to his trailer still dressed in his full leather costume. He honestly didn’t even feel the 90 degree heat because his blood pressure was pinging the scales with worry about the woman he loved.

He hit her number with practiced skill and held his cell phone to his ear waiting for her to answer. As soon as she did he began.

“Come home,” Oliver instructed her plainly.

“What?” Felicity responded trying to mask the fact that she had been crying regarding the theater fire. “Do we not say ‘hello’ anymore?”

“Where are you?” Oliver asked, not diverted by her random comment.

“I'm in my apartment. It's 4:00 in the afternoon. Where am I supposed to be?” Felicity asked before sitting down on the reclining loveseat that Oliver had helped her purchase knowing the two of them would put it to good use.

“Are you okay?” Oliver asked, now with concern in his voice.

"I'm fine…” Felicity began with a swipe of her hand across her forehead. “Oh, you heard about the fire…” she continued.

“Yeah, I just saw it on Insta. Were you going to tell me? Were you there? Are you alright Felicity?” His questions began flowing without giving her a second to answer.

“I’m fine. In shock. Sad and frustrated, but physically I’m fine. The fire was in the upper floors of the building where they were doing construction. None of us were there. I really don’t even know if the theater was affected but we can’t get in there to see until the fire folks do their inspection and investigation,” she shared a little of the information the play’s producer had given to her over the phone about two hours ago.

“Son of bitch,” Felicity felt tears beginning again as she thought about the great reviews their play was getting and the fact that they were now in an indeterminate holding pattern.

Oliver knew exactly what was happening when she swore and then stopped talking. So he gave his instructions again. “Felicity, come home. The fire… it's a sign that you need to be back here in Vancouver with me.”

“Oliver, I can't do that. They'll fix the damage and we'll be back on stage soon.” Again she leaned on the information that Patrick and Leslie had shared with her.

“It's New York,” Oliver thought out loud. “Nothing happens that quickly. You need to come back to Vancouver now and be here with me.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. This was an ongoing argument of sorts between them, every time they talked. “Don't you mean with us...as in the cast and crew and on the show?” she asked somewhat sarcastically.

Oliver jumped at the opening. “No. As much as I want you to be, that's not what I mean. I just want you back here with me. I'm a mess. I can't do this without you. Just knowing that I can come home to you and that you're here, in the same city with me, I'd be fine...but you're not.”

“Oliver,” Felicity rolled her eyes as she spoke, “Laurel and Dallas are right there with you.”

“Yes,” he didn’t hesitate to continue. “And Dallas wants to know when you're coming home... to us.” He wasn’t lying to her. It was a question his nearly six-year-old daughter had asked him almost every other day. 

“Oliver, don't…” she finally protested sincerely.

“Felicity, come on, at least while they make repairs...come home.”

“Stop, please?” she knew her request would be ignored.

“I'll buy the plane ticket. You tell me what time you can get there and I'll book it for you,” he wasn’t above begging if he needed to.

“I can't…” she emphasized each word and shook her head with a slight hint of anger at him for tossing her this temptation.

"Do you love me?”

 _Damn him. How dare he play that card,_ she thought as she breathed heavily into her phone. “You know I do. Oliver, that’s not fair.”

He ignored her one more time and told her again, “Then come...home...to...me…”

The knock on the door startled Oliver. John’s voice came through loud and clear with the director’s demand that the lead actor return to the set.

“Damn it,” Oliver swore. “We are not done Felicity. I have to go but this conversation isn’t over.”

“Sounds like it’s done to me,” Felicity tossed back at him. “I’m not coming back to Vancouver, Oliver. I’m staying in New York. I have work to do here and that’s not going to change.”

“Fine,” Oliver huffed, not appreciating her stubbornness. “We will talk again later. Are you staying home tonight?”

Felicity furrowed her eyebrows. She certainly wasn’t going to perform at a burned out theater building. “I guess,” she sighed against the phone. “I don’t have a date if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Oliver rolled his own eyes. “I’ll call you back when I get off the set, okay?” he explained further with a plan forming in his head.

“Sure,” Felicity agreed knowing she really didn’t have a choice in the matter. At this point she figured if she didn’t answer his call then he would show up at her doorstep one way or another.

“I love you,” Oliver added with complete sincerity.

He listened as Felicity drew in a long, deep breath. “I love you, too,” She added with a smile, grazing her teeth over her bottom lip.

It really didn’t matter where in the world either of them was, they could be together or separated by the east and the west. Those three little words had infiltrated their world years ago and with or without Laurel, working together or apart, their love was not going away.

***

Felicity woke the next morning to her phone ringing. She reached for it lazily, wondering who was calling her so early in the morning. She saw it was Oliver and sat up quickly.

“Oliver? Is everything ok?”

“Everything is fine. I wanted to let you know that I am on my way to New York. My flight leaves in 45 minutes. I get into LaGuardia at like 10:30 so I should be at your apartment by …”

“Oliver, you can't just hop a plane and fly to New York…”

“I can if I want to. I told Andy to shoot around me. There's plenty of scenes without me and I need to be with you right now.”

“I'm fine.”

“Yes, you are. And you'll be better once I get there. I'm hanging up now. I love you!”

Felicity heard the dial tone when he hung up the phone and she sat down with a sigh. There was nothing she could do. Once Oliver made up his mind there was no changing it. She jumped in the shower and then quickly dressed. She had several errands to run before he arrived and one that was most important.

Later that evening she was just changing clothes when she heard a key in her lock. She jumped but then realized that Oliver must still have his key from last summer and sure enough when she walked into the living room she was swept up into his muscular arms and his mouth was kissing her.

She felt just how much he missed her as he slanted his lips across hers and she moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him as close as she could manage. He broke the kiss and then placed his forehead to hers. They both tried to catch their breath.

“God I missed you.” Oliver’s eyes flashed with the pain of having been separated from her for so long.

“I missed you too.”

He gently cupped her face and a smile entered his eyes. "You look beautiful."

"Well when I heard I was going to have company I pulled out the good stuff." She grinned and stepped back so he could see her sun dress. It had thin shoulder straps and nipped in at the waist before flaring down to just above her knees.

He pulled her back into his arms, the distance too much right at that moment.

"God Felicity, season eight has been a nightmare without you. I think John is about ready to come kidnap you."

Felicity grinned, "Are you driving him crazy?"

Oliver laughed, "In John's words, if I show up at his trailer at midnight one more time he is going to lock me in _my_ trailer."

She placed her arms around his neck, "Oh you poor baby." She leaned up and kissed him again and he sighed softly as he pulled her close and swept his tongue along her bottom lip and then nipped it.

She knew if the kissing continued where it would lead, so she broke the kiss and then stepped back. "How is Dallas?"

"She misses you."

"I miss her too."

“She asked me when you were going to come back to Vancouver."

Felicity sighed. She wanted to go back, she really did but being that close to Oliver and Dallas and not able to show them her feelings was just too difficult.

"I want to come back, but what about Laurel?"

Oliver rubbed her arms lightly, not liking the distance between them but understanding why she was doing it.

"She is going to be leaving in a few days to go spend a week with Nyssa."

Felicity looked at him and then wrapped her arms around his waist. She needed to hold him. This man was so important to her. He hugged her tightly placing his chin on her head. He still marveled at just how perfectly she fit against him. It was like their bodies were made for each other.

He thought back to the first time he realized that things had moved beyond just friendship for him. It had been right after their characters had shared their "first" kiss.

Watching her walk away after that scene had been physically hard on him and after they had wrapped the scene he had gone to her trailer. She had opened the door and looked up at him with her blue eyes shining behind her glasses and he had not been able to stop himself from shutting the door and taking her into his arms and kissing her for real.

They had sex for the first time that night and Oliver's body still reacted to the memory. She had fit him perfectly but what he had noticed even more was how responsive and loving she was with him. Laurel had never been that way, in fact the times they did make love did not involve a lot of kissing or touching. It had become mechanical and Oliver had found that over time he had just lost interest.

His relationship with Laurel had been platonic for a while and during that time he and Felicity had grown closer. Their love had blossomed over the years and had been the one joy, other than Dallas, in his life. Dallas loved Felicity and looked to her as a surrogate mother. They had done several things together like a family which had not set well with Laurel, but he didn't care. Dallas loved Felicity and he loved Felicity.

Oliver held her tightly and slowly walked her backwards. She looked up at him suspiciously. "What are you doing?" He continued walking with a smirk on his face.

"Taking advantage."

"Oliver....." She wanted to stop him but being held by him and kissed by him made her protests disappear. She loved him and wanted to be with him.

He pushed her down onto the couch and then lowered himself over her as he kissed her with slow deliberation. 

“I should really stop this you know.” She mumbled the words as he kissed his way down her cheek and to her neck. 

“I know.” His voice was muffled as well and she could not stop her hands from sliding down his back and underneath his shirt.

“We really should be going to get something to eat and talking.” Her words ended on a moan as she felt his scruff scrape across her chest.

“I know.”

Oliver’s little replies were driving her crazy but in a good way. She loved the feel of his chest rumbling when he spoke. It sent delicious shivers down her spine.

“Oliver are you even listening to me?” She scraped her nails gently up his back and she smiled when his body shook. She loved making him react to her.

“Mmmm hmmmmm.” His voice was muffled as he worked his way down her chest and before she could resist he was pulling her dress up her thighs. “This really needs to come off.”

She gripped his cheeks and then pulled his eyes up so their gazes met. “Oliver we need to talk first, and I mean really talk.”

Oliver sighed and lowered his forehead to her chest. She was right, he knew that, but a bigger part of him wanted to claim her after their absence. It had been way too long. He finally pulled himself up and sat at the end of the couch. She grinned as his hair was all spikey and his face flushed and she knew she looked the same way. She scooted to a sitting position and smoothed down her skirt.

“Ok, I am willing to talk first but then I get to ravish you for the rest of the night.” Oliver gave her one of his intense, no argument looks and she smiled. 

Oliver ran his hand through his hair, “Felicity, I love you. I have loved you for six years. I want us to be together.”

Felicity looked down at her hands. “I know you love me Oliver, I love you too. I love you so much that when I am not with you it is hard to breath. But you are married. You have a beautiful child with Laurel. How are we supposed to overcome that?”

“I will leave her.” He said the words confidently. “I have been thinking about that for a while now. We are only together for Dali.”

“Oliver, I cannot and will not ask you to do that.”

“You're not asking.” He scooted forward so he could hold her hands. “Dali loves you.”

God the thought of breaking up their family made her sick to her stomach. No matter how she loved him she could not be a part of him doing that.

“Oliver if you choose to go back to Vancouver and leave Laurel, that is strictly up to you. But if you do we cannot see each other for a while. I cannot have everyone blaming me for your marriage breaking up.”

Oliver saw the worry in her eyes and he gently stroked her cheek. “How long would we have to stay apart?”

“At least a year. Until things quieted down and people have moved on to other things.”

“A year!??” He exploded at that and stood to pace in front of her before he stopped. “There is no way in hell I am staying away from you for a fucking year. Don’t ask me to do that.”

Felicity stood too. She really needed him to understand how their relationship was affecting her.

“We have to Oliver. If you divorce Laurel and then we get together immediately after, then it is going to make me look like a homewrecker.”

Oliver sighed, “We both know that is not true. Laurel was all for us having our “extra curricular" activities. She didn’t have a problem until Dallas started wanting to spend more time with us together.” He took her hands again, his frustration slowly fading. “I have not been with Laurel in years Felicity. I could never be with her when my heart is yours.”

“I know that and we know that, but everyone else doesn’t.” Felicity squeezed his hands again, her eyes pleading. 

He understood where she was coming from. Felicity’s heart was big and she cared what her fans thought of her. He pulled her close and kissed her softly, letting her feel his love for her in the kiss.

“We will figure this out. I promise.” He buried his face in her hair and they hugged, both holding tight, neither wanting to ever let go.

“Hey, can we take a walk down to the theater?” Felicity hoped he would say yes. 

“Sure, but why?”

“I just want to share that part of me with you. The play was doing so well.” He could hear the sadness in her voice. “I need to go down there.”

Oliver agreed, and took her hand, locking the door behind them. She tried to pull her hand away as they walked, but Oliver would not let go. 

“Oliver we are in public.”

“I know that.”

“We can’t be seen holding hands in public. If Laurel got wind…”

Oliver stopped walking and turned to her. “If she got wind, what? I do not care what Laurel thinks.”

“Yes, but she could use Dallas against you.”

Oliver sighed and reluctantly released her hand. He grumbled as they walked and Felicity could not help but smile. 

“If you were this grumpy in Vancouver I can see why John made his threats.”

“You think _this_ is grumpy? I’m _with_ you right now,” Oliver commented still with a pout on his lips.

Felicity smiled. “Good point,” she noted and deliberately took a half step closer to him. They might not be holding hands but she could at least be shoulder to shoulder...well, her shoulder to his bicep...the point was just being able to have physical contact, period.

“Oh, wow,” she blew out a quiet breath as they approached the narrow building front that held a poster of her, advertising the play.

They both looked up where yellow tape lined windows in the upper part of the 4 story building. A couple of the windows were broken where firefighters had worked the day before. The entrance of the building was also taped off with ‘Do Not Enter’ signs on the door and the steps.

From the outside the building appeared damaged most certainly, but that’s about all they could tell.

“Hey,” Oliver wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she didn’t flinch. He placed a gentle kiss into her hair and knew she was crying because she turned toward him and buried her face against his shoulder. “Hey now,” he held her tighter not caring if there was a single soul around them. “Felicity, it is only a building. The damage will be fixed and the show will go on. Isn’t that what they always say when there are roadblocks or issues pop up? The show must go on.”

Felicity took a deep breath and turned her face back toward the fire line but kept her cheek against his shoulder. “We just - we only had a few weeks. We weren’t packing the seats like I had hoped we would but we were getting good reviews and just starting to take off.”

Oliver placed another kiss on her scalp. “And you’re not done. They just need a little time to figure out what repairs need to be done to get you all back on the stage.”

“So now you’re saying the fire wasn’t a sign for me to come home?” She pulled away from him slightly but didn’t break from his hold, realizing that a couple of people were walking by.

Oliver looked down at her with a ‘well duh’ kind of gaze. “I’m trying to console you here. I’m not trying to start an argument. I told you we will talk about that more, but not here.”

Felicity gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you,” she offered.

“For what,” he joked, “for not starting an argument here in the middle of the sidewalk?”

“For coming to New York,” she tiptoed up and placed a soft kiss on his jaw just below his earlobe.

“You okay?” he wondered as he loosened his hold on her and ran his palm up and down her bicep.

“Better now, I think…” her eyes drifted back to the building and then down the sidewalk. 

They turned to head back to her apartment since they couldn’t get into the building. This time, as they walked and Oliver reached for her hand Felicity didn’t balk at it. Instead she let him loosely link his fingers with hers and thought again about the two of them, together and the happiness she was feeling in that moment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the wonderful response to this.
> 
> Enjoy!!

“Do you want some dinner?” Felicity offered as they walked back into her temporary home. “I grabbed some chicken and salad after you called this morning.”

“So, we can eat in?” Oliver smiled at her as she unlocked the door and they each tossed their keys and wallets onto the table just inside the door.

“Absolutely!” Felicity headed toward the kitchen and opened the fridge. “I didn’t think you would want to tackle the two of us having dinner together in New York of all places.”

Oliver followed her toward the kitchen but took a seat at the bar watching her put food on the counter. “I’ve told you, I don’t care. Let people talk. Felicity, it’s damn obvious to anyone in a two-mile radius of us that we are in love. That includes Laurel and any of _our_ friends who choose to see the truth for what it is.”

“Meaning that you’re not happy with Laurel anymore…”

“Blatantly obvious statement. I would rather be with you. The only reason that I’m still with Laurel is because of Dali. I’m not stupid. I know that Laurel could cause me pure hell in a custody case because I’m not an American citizen. Frankly, I’m done with it. I’ve got my paperwork filed but I’m fed up with waiting on the legal system when I want to be with you.”

Felicity noted the stress lines in his forehead as she closed the refrigerator door and leaned against it while listening to him. She took a deep breath and stepped to the counter in front of him. She leaned her stomach against the edge and rested her upper body on her elbow and forearm as she moved forward and placed a kiss on his lips.

She ran her fingers over his forehead and down his cheek, slowing steadily to run her fingernails through the bit of beard that he had growing once again. 

Oliver closed his eyes. He was supposed to be here to make sure she was okay, not to complain about the state of his failed marriage. But that marriage was a big reason he had to travel across the country to be with Felicity - even for just a few days.

“Help me fix the salad?” She said the words softly after another couple of minutes of silence and just looking at one another.

“Sure,” he agreed easily and offered her a smile.

“You’re tired from the flight and all my chaos. Go sit, never mind… you go rest on the couch…” She tried to give him an excuse.

“The couch is too far away from you. What have we got?” He got up from the bar stool seat and rounded the counter to look at her vegetable choices.

Felicity stepped back and watched him wash his hands in the sink before he located a knife and cutting board. She grabbed the two chicken breasts that had been marinating and slid them into a baking dish. 

Once she put their main course into the oven she turned back toward Oliver and smiled as he sliced a tomato and some celery and tossed them into the bowl.

“What?” he noticed her watching him.

“I’ve missed this,” she admitted willingly.

“As have I,” Oliver nodded. He rinsed off the knife and his hands then dried them on a tea towel hanging from the oven door. “And…” he took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her and pinned her against the kitchen counter, “I miss this...terribly.” 

Oliver pressed his mouth to her smiling lips and tightened his hold as Felicity strung her arms around his neck and rested her arms limply over his shoulders. 

She didn’t hesitate to part her lips as the tip of his tongue crept between them. She tried to remember the last time they had this opportunity - and he was correct, it had been too long. 

So long, in fact, that Felicity didn’t even realize she was moaning into their kiss.

Oliver pulled away and opened his eyes just enough to see the pure pleasure on her face. The sight of her closed eyes, parted lips and relaxed features completely beckoned him back in. But her moan and hum made him curious.

“Are you okay, Felicity?” Oliver peppered some kisses on her chin and cheeks.

“Mmm-hmm,” she breathed. “Why’d you stop?” She moved her face around without opening her eyes trying to find his lips again.

“You were moaning. Sounded wonderful to my ears but I just wanted to make sure.” He grinned widely as she bit on her bottom lip and smiled, keeping her eyes closed.

“I didn’t even know…” She breathed in deeply. “Felt so good. Kiss me again.”

Oliver didn’t hesitate. He never would. She was drunk on him and them and he could not be more pleased.

After another few minutes of tangled tongues, Felicity’s moans, and her hands wandering over his chest, Oliver carefully lifted her onto the counter. He wedged himself between her knees.

“Where did we leave off earlier?” His hands found their way to the hem of her sundress and again began inching it up her thighs. “This has got to go Felicity.” He looked down at his hands as he pushed the material higher to see the simple soft pink silk bikini panties she was wearing.

She leaned her head back carefully to avoid smacking it on the cabinets behind her. She had learned that lesson the hard way a couple of times in Vancouver and Los Angeles. Her hands moved to his hair with her fingers combing through it and his beard. Oliver massaged the tops of her thighs and let his thumbs press against her inner muscles, encouraging her to spread wider for him.

Felicity’s breath was already ragged. But when she looked down at his hands and he caught her watching him her breath stopped.

Oliver followed her gaze to his index and middle fingers that slowly pushed the satiny material away from her heat and grazed her sensitivity releasing the slick moisture that made him groan instantly.

Both jumped as the touch of his fingers coincided with the oven timer going off. Their eyes locked and Felicity whimpered.

“I’m not stopping,” Oliver informed her with a determined look on his face. 

She sat as still as she could as his eyes went back to his fingers and she felt him coating her swollen lips with her wetness.

“What do you want Felicity?”

Oliver was completely entranced by the hungry, unsatisfied look on her face coupled with the feel of her hips trying to move against his fingertips.

Felicity let out a light, breathy laugh. She let her head fall back farther now to lean against the cabinet doors. “You are deranged if you think I can form...oh god, Oliver...you know what I want. Just do it, please.”

He smiled. He did know what she wanted and how she liked it and he loved that she couldn’t even put together a comprehensible thought when he had her at this point.

Oliver used his free arm to snake around her naked hips and pull her to the edge of the counter. He slowly slid his two fingers inside of her with another groan as he was reminded of just how tight she was and how her inner muscles gripped him no matter what part of his body he slid into her.

“Chicken...burning…”, the random words came from her mouth.

“Fuck the chicken.” Oliver slid his fingers with purpose back and forth and held her as her hips began to roll with him wanting him deeper and deeper.

“Don’t you dare…” she somehow spat out as he matched the rhythm of the still-blaring timer. “You’re doing me right now!” 

Felicity gripped the edge of the counter with her fingers knowing he wouldn’t let her fall. She jutted her hips out just a little bit further offering the deepness that both needed.

Oliver took her hint, planted both fingers as tightly as he could into her heat and flicked her bundle of nerves as he curved his finger tips to just the right angle…

“Oh God, oh God, yes Oliver...right there...God Yes… YES!!! Oh...fuck….” Her legs came together instinctively as she latched them around his wrist and rode out the waves that he was instigating inside of her.

Oliver smiled when her legs went limp and he could feel blood beginning to flow into his hand again. He started to withdraw his fingers until she protested.

“Don’t…” Felicity lifted her head and looked down into his beautiful eyes. She adjusted herself just enough to bend down and place a thankful yet wanting kiss on his lips. Her tongue explored his mouth for just a moment before she stopped, leaning her forehead against his as she caught her breath.

“Can I let go now?” Oliver asked and moved the tips of his fingers still inside of her.

“Mmm-mmm.” Her tone was a bit whiny.

“You do know that I’m going to be here a few days and we can do this again...and again...if you’d like. Although, dear God, I hope I get some attention too,” he admitted before pushing the pressure that had built up in his jeans against her naked calf.

The blaring timer noise finally caught their attention. Felicity reached over to stop the sound, inadvertently letting Oliver remove his hand.

“Hey…” She admonished him as the beeping stopped and she suddenly had a coolness hitting her inner heat.

Oliver put his clean hand across her thighs to make sure she didn’t fall but moved himself to the sink to wash off his hand.

“Ouch.” He made a fist and moved his wrist around with a slight grimace.

Felicity sat for another second, getting her bearings back and grinning from ear to ear. “You okay?”

“Note to self…” Oliver grimaced again as he flexed his wrist and moved his two fingers around. He eyed Felicity with a satisfied look covering his face after the grimace. “The edge of the bed is a better place to do _that…_ and _God_ your thigh muscles are rock solid!”

Felicity cocked her eyebrows at him. “I haven’t stopped working out. I didn’t really figure on my thigh muscles coming into play on the kitchen counter.”

“No?” Oliver laughed at her as she readjusted her underwear and finally straightened out her dress, again hiding away those private places that were more than familiar to him.

He placed his hands on her hips and helped her back onto her feet on the floor, holding her a few extra seconds as her wobbly legs regained their strength.

She gladly wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him to her to share one more kiss for the time being.

“I thought if we got that far on the kitchen counter,” she kissed his bearded cheek and whispered into his ear, “then I would be wrapping my thighs around your waist and pumping on my favorite New York erector set.”

Oliver pulled away from her, his jeans still tight, but obviously holding in a burst of laughter. 

“Did you really just say that?” 

Felicity grinned. “I like it. My own personal erector set. I can make it go up anytime I want to.” She tilted her chin into the air and purposefully cupped his erection.

He looked down at her without lowering his head and grinned. “I will never be able to engineer something with Lego’s or building blocks again.”

They grinned at each other and shared another sweet kiss. Oliver patted her on the behind and pointed toward the bedroom.

“Go change. You’re the one who said the chicken was burning. I’ll take care of dinner. You get cleaned up and we’ll play tunnel building later.”

Felicity laughed at him and headed toward the bedroom.

“Oliver?” She turned and looked at him before going through the door.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. I love you. I’ve missed you, a lot.”

*** 

Dinner turned out to be good, if not a little smoky. They laughed as they sat on the floor eating their food and just enjoying each other’s company. Felicity looked at Oliver as he laughed at something she said, and her eyes softened with tenderness. Their relationship, no matter how hard it was, was one of the best things in her life.

She thought back to the first day they met, and their connection had been instantaneous. At the time Oliver and Laurel were still trying to work on their marriage. However, it had quickly become apparent to him and any one close to them that Laurel was not going to change. 

Felicity slowly found herself becoming his sounding board as they spent time together. She looked forward to the mornings when they would have coffee together and then to the evenings when they would just sit in one or the other’s trailer and talk. 

Everything had changed the day of their characters' first kiss. 

Everyone in the cast and crew had known they had chemistry, but their sexual connection had leapt off the screen in that scene. Felicity had fled after she filmed needing to get to her trailer and try to come to terms with her feelings. However, as soon as Oliver was done shooting his scene, he had come to her and she had been powerless to turn him away.

Their coming together that night had been explosive. As they continued to spend time together over the next few weeks Laurel had figured out that they were more than friends. Felicity had been concerned that she was going to use it against Oliver, but they were both surprised when she did not say or do anything. She had finally admitted during therapy that she was glad he had someone to satisfy his sexual needs. It took the pressure off her. 

That had been their last counseling session.

Oliver caught Felicity staring at him and his eyes turned molten as he returned her look. They had always been able to speak without words. Their eyes speaking for them, he leaned over and kissed her softly. She climbed over onto his lap and placed her arms around his neck, her knees bracketing his waist. His hands settled on her hips and she smiled down at him.

“I have missed having you here.”

He gently pushed her hair back from her brow. “I have missed it too.”

“When you told me that you were on your way, as angry as I was at you, a larger part of me was happy.”

“I will always be here for you, Felicity. Don’t ever forget that.”

She leaned down and kissed him again and then kissed her way around to his ear. “I think it is time to pull out the erector set.”

Oliver mock glared at her as she grinned and then pressed her body down onto him. He pushed up holding her hips steady and the look he gave her was pure sexual heat. Oliver was always making sure that she was satisfied but tonight she was going to focus on him. She felt she needed to reassure him that she was still his and so she held onto his shoulders and ground her hips down again. 

Oliver groaned as he felt her move and his body started to respond. Feeling her on and around him, the smell of her arousal filling his senses, was always amazing. His body hardened as he looked into her eyes seeing her desire for him there. 

Just the way she looked at him, everything bared to him, always aroused him.

“Why don’t you sit up on the couch Mr. Queen.”

Oliver’s eyes flared and he kept his eyes on her as she moved off his lap. She pushed him up and back onto the couch and then he felt her hands on his knees. She pushed his legs open moving between them and the sexy intensity on her face became the hottest look he had ever seen.

Her hands reached for his pants and quickly undid the button and zipper and he shifted his hips to help her pull them down. She licked her lips when she saw his black boxers. She had thought from day one that they were sexy as fuck and that feeling had only grown stronger.

She slid her hands up his thighs and his head fell back against the couch, but his eyes stayed on her.

“I think I need to re-acquaint myself with a certain part of your body.”

The thought of her lips on him had him clenching his fists at his sides and when he felt her hands touch him through the slit in his boxers, he closed his eyes and groaned. She gently stroked him letting her hand slide up and down his hard length as her eyes watched for every response, he gave her.

She tightened her grip when she slid her hand up and then let it loosen as her hand slid down the smooth skin. Oliver tried to keep his eyes open, he wanted to see her. But when he looked down and she was leaning over him, her hair spread out on his lap like golden red rays of light, he knew it was going to be difficult. He shifted, lifting his hips toward her, his body begging for what it needed. It needed her.

She gave him a sexy smile and then she leaned down and wrapped her lips around his tip. She made little sucking sounds that had him almost losing his mind and he wanted nothing more than to place his hands in her hair. He clenched them at his sides and watched as she slid her lips down the ridge and then gently sucked. 

“Felicity…” Her name whispered from his lips as he felt her slide her tongue right back to the tip and then before he knew it, she was taking him into her mouth. She slid his cock all the way in until he was fully inside, the last little bit not quite able to fit. She gripped him with her hand and sucked him just how he liked. Hard on the way up and then loose as her wet lips slid back down. 

His hips started to meet the movement of her mouth and he could not stop his hands from sliding up into her hair. He held her head gently as she started to bob up and down and the tingling that she always managed to elicit from him started. He had missed her so much, everything about her. 

Felicity started working him with her hand and her mouth and as Oliver’s hips thrust up towards her, she pulled back, teasing him.

“Felicity, please!” She loved when he begged her and so she tightened her hold and then slid him into her mouth again. She continued a slow steady pace and before long she felt his muscles tensing. He was close; she could feel it in every line of his body. She wanted to taste him and so she increased her pace and sucked harder. The obscene sounds coming from her mouth were almost too much for him and he moaned louder. 

She slid her tongue around the tip and along his slit and when she finally took him deep into her mouth again, he pushed up with his hips and released with a cry. He held her to him as his body worked through his orgasm and when she knew he was completely spent she released him with a pop of her lips. 

She looked up and the sight she saw made her smile. Oliver had his head back, his eyes closed, and his breathing was stuttered. She crawled up and he put his arm limply around her as she snuggled next to him.

“You are a wicked, wicked woman.”

“And you love it.”

He opened his beautiful blue eyes and she saw his next words shining there. “Yes, I do.”


	3. Chapter 3

Felicity wasn’t surprised at all when Oliver fell asleep with his head in her lap a short time later. They had turned on a random movie and simply held each other, kissed and snuggled with Felicity sitting in his lap.

She had only moved when he had to use the bathroom and she made some microwave popcorn as a snack. They had reclined both sides of the leather chairs and then somehow Oliver had contorted his larger body to rest his head against her hip and thigh.

Felicity didn’t care. Her legs were stretched out and his position made it much easier for her to run her fingers through his hair and pet his beard which she adored. 

She allowed herself to imagine a similar scene, in a much larger home, with a little curly-haired blonde girl playing with Barbies on the floor nearby. Felicity remembered Dali doing that a couple of times when Oliver had brought her to visit. Felicity recalled running lines with the little one for her stage debut in a theater school production of “Annie”. 

Dali claimed to be _‘so nervous I’m gonna puke!’_ So, she and Aunt Lici had gone through her lines and sang her solo together. Felicity was more than impressed and happily expressed that to Dali. 

After which the five-year-old declared they were ‘bestest’ friends and proceeded to invite herself to Felicity’s Los Angeles apartment for a sleepover. To Dali’s delight, Felicity had accepted the invitation. To Felicity’s delight, Oliver finagled his way into the sleepover that same night. And when Dali was finally asleep the two adults enjoyed playing house and pretending to be a normal family.

Felicity sighed. _A normal family_ … That seemed out of reach. She really wasn’t sure when she would see Dali again and these stolen moments with Oliver were certainly much harder to find.

But she still wanted them.

That’s what she had already figured out from this impromptu, emergency visit. While the thought of breaking up his family literally made her want to puke, the idea of letting this relationship somehow fade to black made her entire body ache. She needed him like oxygen. That’s what she told him. Being away from him made it difficult to breathe and think.

Felicity took a moment to breathe in deeply. She looked down at Oliver’s face, laying so peacefully there with her. Perhaps someday they _would_ make this work. Until then she would somehow make do with the separation, distance, work, and the few times that they might get to be together.

Oliver’s phone rang and Felicity froze. She leaned forward and reached over top of Oliver’s sleeping body to grab it from the arm of the loveseat. She quickly looked at the screen and the caller i.d. and let out a sigh - it wasn’t Laurel.

She smiled as she accepted the call from a dear friend who was likely calling to rip Oliver a new asshole for leaving him in Vancouver to run interference.

“Hello, Mr. Diggle.” She spoke into the phone with a smile on her face.

“Well, that answers question number one,” John responded. “Hello Ms. Smoak. I take it your other half is there with you somewhere?”

“Well, he happens to be napping at the moment.” She spoke in a quiet voice as she continued running her fingers through the hair around Oliver’s ear.

“Napping… now there’s a concept.” John chuckled once. “Hey Little Miss, how are you?”

Felicity smiled. “I’m okay, John. We were not at the theater when the fire started. I feel like we’re on eternal hold. But the whole mess just happened yesterday so I guess I should be patient.”

“But Felicity, how are you? Is the play keeping you occupied? Oliver said the two of you aren’t talking as much as he wants to. Are you trying to distance yourself even more?”

Felicity breathed out. “Can we stick to talking about the fire, please?”

“Translation...your head is still going in circles and you don’t know how to make sense of it?” He was not going to lighten the topic.

“Correct,” Felicity answered. “How are things on set?”

She wanted to change the subject, otherwise Oliver would wake up and then suddenly she would be battling both men about her decisions.

“It’s pure, holy hell, Smoak. How do you think it is? My muscles are burning from the workouts and stunts. We’re working 16-hour days to make use of the location sets. And your boy takes off with no notice because he needs to be in New York. You should be here. Both of you should be here,” he grumbled.

“John, don’t go there.” Felicity more than requested. “I’ve got other opportunities that are better for me here. You all will be doing the same thing after this season. You’re already looking for the next project. I just got a head start.”

John sighed on the other end of the line. “Can I at least say that we miss you? Did Oliver tell you that he’s a mess without you here?”

“It’s been mentioned once or twice...in the middle of his demands that I come back. Thank you, by the way. It’s nice to be missed.”

“Don’t you ever doubt it, Felicity. You’re irreplaceable.”

“Sooo, is that why you’re calling? You felt this irresistible need to lavish me with compliments?” Felicity smiled as John gave her an honest chuckle.

“Your man’s bosses are wondering if he has defected to the east coast or if he’s going to come back to work anytime soon.”

“They know where he is, right? And why he’s here?” Felicity was now curious.

“We were all speculating. I now know where he is for sure - unless you took his phone and dumped him in the East River. But Felicity, he talked to you yesterday, came back to the set and finished his scenes like a man who had a plane to catch. Then he didn’t show up this morning. We called the house and Laurel was scowling that he had an early flight and was probably heading to see you.” John took a second to take a breath.

“I had a text from him saying ‘I’m going to check on Felicity and that was it.”

“Damn it.” Felicity pouted and let out a testy breath. “Oliver!” She traced a finger around his jawbone and then moved her hand to his shoulder. “Oliver, John’s on the phone. You didn’t tell them where you were going? What the hell?”

Oliver’s eyes opened groggily, and he blinked a few times just to see in front of him. “What?”

Felicity moved around until he practically had to sit up. She tucked her legs under herself and held the phone out toward him. “It’s John. You neglected to tell me that you neglected to tell _them_ where you were going.”

“They knew where I was going,” Oliver wiped his eyes, stretched an arm above his head and yawned before reaching for his phone. “I texted John…” He put the phone to his ear. “Hey...John...I texted you. I told you I was coming to check on Felicity.”

“I’m not the man who signs your paycheck, Dude. Couple of the bosses would have liked to have been informed about your travel plans.”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Fine. Next time I’ll alert the whole crew that I’m coming to see the woman I love, and I’ll make sure we go out and get our pictures plastered on some TMZ report.”

“Hey, don’t pout at me,” John chastised. “I’m just telling you. A little note saying, ‘I’m not going to be at work for the next week’ goes a long way.”

“I’ll be back Monday,” Oliver stated, still with a pout. He looked at Felicity who looked up at him, nodded her own understanding and reached for her phone.

“Alright. That was my other question,” John responded, filling in another blank that he needed to tell their bosses.

“So, am I clear now? Do I still have a job? If I don’t, I’ll stay here.”

“Oliver!” Felicity looked at him shaking her head and threw him an angry spouse type of gaze as John also protested on the other end of the line.

“Actually, hey!” John caught his attention again and asked sincerely. “How’s your girl?”

Oliver looked at Felicity who was completely faking a game of solitaire on her phone. He reached his hand toward hers and linked their fingers even when she gave him a still-annoyed look. “She’s fine.” Oliver smiled at her.

“Eating? Staying hydrated? It’s hot over there, I know. She’s really alright?” John wondered with true interest.

Oliver tugged on Felicity’s arm until she gave in and scooted toward him, letting him wrap his free arm around her and kiss her temple and the shell of her ear.

“Yeah,” Oliver continued. “She’s okay.”

“Are you?” John asked in his all-knowing voice.

“Nope.” Oliver responded but left it at that.

“Alright man, look, I’ll tell Andy that you’re out till Monday. Don’t make a liar out of me. Don’t change your ticket at the last minute. If you do anything, bring her back with you,” he suggested.

Oliver buried his nose into Felicity’s hair and hugged her a little tighter.

“Wish I could, Man. I’m trying. Thanks for covering for me.”

The two men shared ‘goodbyes’ and Oliver ended the call. 

“John says you need to come back with me when I fly home on Sunday.” Oliver spoke directly against her scalp, pretty much unwilling to remove his lips from the kissable spot he had found.

“Yeah, well John also said you didn’t tell anyone that you were coming out here.” Felicity barbed back but didn’t strongly try to get out of his grasp.

“What are they going to do, fire me?” Oliver shifted his cheek to her hair, leaning on her head as though she were his pillow.

“Oliver!” Felicity smacked his chest and finally did pull away to look at his face.

“What? It’s true.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. “Egotistical…” She shook her head. “You’ve got four months of work to finish this show. All you have to do is work your ass off for four months and then it’s done. You can do whatever you want to after that. And you love what you do. I shouldn’t have to remind you of that.

“I love what I do... _if_ you’re there. For the first time in seven years I have a job to do and that’s what it is...a job.”

“Oliver, that’s not true and you know it. The cast and the crew are your friends. You want to see this through to the end and that’s almost here.”

Oliver pulled her back toward him and wrapped his arms around her. Felicity didn’t fight as he practically sat her in his lap and rested his head against her chest.

“I want you there when we wrap things up.” He admitted the _one, single_ thought that truly kept going through his mind. “When the last scene is shot and I bid farewell to this guy, I want you there by my side.”

“Oliver,” Felicity breathed out sadly. 

“Don’t,” he stopped her. “Felicity don’t tell me that Laurel and Dali need to be with me. I need you. I want _you_. I want it to be me and you finishing this thing together - me, you and John. I don’t care who the fuck else is there, but I want it to be the three of us.”

“Ol-”

“Don’t,” he emphasized. “I am fucking doing my best to not demand that you come back right now, Felicity, okay? I’m making one request. Can you not even consider it?”

“Ok.” Felicity worked to calm him, rocking her body slightly and holding his head against her chest as though she were consoling a child. 

“Okay. I will think about it. I’ll look at the calendar and see. I’m not going to promise though, Oliver.”

“I need you to,” he countered.

“What?” Felicity stopped her movements and let him lift his head, so they were speaking face to face.

“I need you to promise me that you’ll be there. Letting you leave me was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I can’t imagine you not being there on that final day. I need you Felicity. I need you to be there. Whatever I need to do, whatever you need to do. _I need you there_.”

Felicity closed her eyes and nodded. She had sworn to herself months ago that he couldn’t say anything to her that would make her want to return to the show, their show. She knew it was a lie then and now she was getting first hand proof of that.

“Ok. I will find a way to be back there, with you, for the final day.”

“No using Laurel as an excuse. No work excuses, nothing.” Oliver looked at her with pleading, demanding eyes. "When we wrap up that day. I want you there.” 

He tapped his fingertips against her thigh and quickly moved his line of sight to his hand, trying to avoid the inevitable tears and emotions building inside of him.

Felicity nodded. She leaned her forehead to his with no intention of saying anything else. Instead she put her hands on his cheeks, regained his eye contact, and held his face firmly as she kissed him with understanding, assurance and most of all, her love.

***

They both went to bed that night but neither one slept. Felicity realized that she _wanted_ to be with him for the last episode. But the thought of having to deal with Laurel made her insides clench. She needed this man so much.

Oliver realized just how imperative it was that Felicity be there for the last episode. He realized that his life was not a life without this woman by his side and he wasn’t sure how he would survive another day without her in it. 

They both realized they still had a lot to figure out. However, as they lay there holding each other, their hands caressing one another absently, they did not care. 

Being together was all that mattered. The all-consuming love for one another that seemingly made their hearts complete, was all that mattered.


	4. Chapter 4

They got up early the next morning, both a little tired from their lack of sleep. Today they were going to do whatever they wanted to do. They had talked about maybe driving outside of New York so they could walk around together freely. She loved the fact that he was here, but she always hated that they had to hide their love for one another when they were out in public. Paparazzi were always watching and waiting to get that one shot that would make them money. The last thing either of them wanted was a picture to be published and Dali to see it. 

They ate a leisurely breakfast that Oliver prepared, and they kissed and touched as they sat side by side eating and just enjoying being together. 

Oliver had surprised her by calling a bed n’ breakfast in the Catskills and soon they were packed and in a rental car on their way. It was a nice mountainous drive and they took their time, stopping like tourists at overlooks and small antique stores. It was the perfect afternoon and when they drove up in front of the bed and breakfast Felicity looked around with a delighted gasp. 

The home was an old Victorian that had a wide front porch that wrapped around the house. There were rocking chairs out front and behind the home was a fantastic mountain view. There was a pond at the back of the property with a beautiful gazebo and Felicity immediately decided to spend some time there.

Oliver carried their small bags into the house and soon they were being led to their room. He had booked them as Mr. and Mrs. Queen and the room they were to stay in was large and well furnished. It took up most of the third floor and as Felicity walked over to look out the window Oliver set their bags on the bed. She heard the door softly close and then his arms were around her waist.

“This is nice.” She hummed softly to him.

“I thought you would like this. One of the production crew told me about it.” They gently swayed as she leaned back against him. “I thought we could enjoy some time away from the paparazzi.”

She turned and placed her arms around his neck. “You thought correctly Mr. Queen.” They kissed softly and then she pulled back.

“Can we take a walk down to the gazebo?”

“Sure.” 

Felicity knew they had more to talk about and she thought this would be the perfect setting. They held hands tightly as they walked down the path and Felicity loved the creaking of the wood as they walked up into the interior.

She let go of his hand and walked to the railing leaning against it and taking a deep breath. The air was so fresh up here and the view was amazing.

“You know how much I love the outdoors, but for some reason I have always had a thing for gazebos.” Oliver watched the breeze from the water ruffle her hair and he approached her and stood by her side. 

“Maybe when we get a house together one day, I will buy you one.”

Her eyes misted at the maybe game that they always played. It was usually the words maybe or one day that always got to her. She knew deep in her heart that they would be together, but she also knew it was going to take some time and that was time that they would have to spend apart.

“Dali would love this.” Oliver smiled and turned his back to lean his hips against the railing. He watched the expression on Felicity’s face for a moment and he knew something was on her mind.

“What are you thinking, Felicity?”

Her hands gripped the railing tighter as she thought of what to say and how to say it. Oliver moved closer and placed his hand on hers, “Talk to me.”

“You know when our relationship started it completely took me by surprise.” She turned at this point and looked at him and her eyes were haunted. “I knew that you were not happy with Laurel, but I also knew you were trying to work things out.” She gave him a rueful smile. “But it didn’t stop me from falling head over heels in love with you.” The last words were spoken with such tenderness that Oliver smiled. 

“But every day that we are apart I wonder, is this really what’s best for everyone involved?”

“Of course, it’s not. Felicity, I love you. I want to be with you and every day that we are apart tears me up.” He sighed and took both her hands in his looking in her eyes. “I promise when I get back to Vancouver, I will sit down and talk to Laurel.”

It was as if the woman had a sixth sense. As soon as the words were out of his mouth the phone rang. Oliver pulled it out of his pocket and looked down to see it was Laurel. He really did not want to answer.

“Take it Oliver. It could be about Dali,” Felicity said the words softly.

“Queen.”

“Daddy!!!”

“Dali, hey baby. Is everything ok?”

“I wanted to talk to Aunt Lici.” Before Oliver could say another word, he heard Laurel in the background. 

“Dali, give Mommy the phone.”

“Mommy wants to talk to you Daddy.” He heard Dali hand over the phone and then Laurel was there. 

“So, you are with HER.” She paused and then bit out in anger. “Oliver, Dali has two minutes to talk to…….to talk to her.” Oliver could hear the anger in her voice and soon Dali was back on the line.

“Felicity, Dali wants to talk to you.” He handed the phone to Felicity and he saw the smile that curved her perfect lips. 

“Dali? Hi.”

“Aunt Lici, guess what? I am going to stay with Grandma Moira tomorrow.”

“You are? That sounds fun.”

“Aunty Thea is going to come over and we are going to bake cookies. I will save you some.”

“Are they chocolate chip?”

“Yes, and I told Thea to leave the nuts out of them.”

“Ah, thank you, Baby.”

There was a pause and Felicity looked at Oliver as Dali said, “When are you going to come see me Lici?”

She sucked in a breath. God, she wanted to see the little girl so badly. But she truly did not know when that would happen.

“I don’t know, Baby. Hopefully soon. In the meantime, you be good for your Grandma Moira, ok? And save me lots of cookies.”

“I love you Lici.”

“I love you too Baby. Here is your Daddy.”

Felicity handed Oliver the phone and then wrapped her arms around her waist as she turned to look out over the water. That little girl took a piece of her heart every single time they spoke.

“Dali baby, I will be home in a couple of days ok? You be good for Grandma and I will bring you something special.” He paused as Dali spoke. “Love you too baby. Can you put Mommy on the phone?”

Laurel came back on and the ice in her voice was enough to make him grit his teeth. “What do you want Oliver? The nanny will be here soon, and I need to pack.”

“Pack? Where are you going?” Oliver frowned. Laurel had not mentioned any trips before he left.

“I am going to Mexico with Nyssa.”

“Laurel….”

“I have to go Oliver. Enjoy your... whatever you want to call it.” She hung up the phone and Oliver glanced down at his phone before looking over at Felicity.

“Oliver, if you need to leave…” Felicity started, and Oliver walked over and stopped her.

“I am not going anywhere Felicity. I am right where I should be. Laurel is playing games and I am not going to give her the satisfaction of reacting.”

Oliver sat down on the bench, holding out his hand to her. “Come here Felicity.”

She took his hand and sat next to him and he pulled her close. “I know this is hard, but please don’t give up on us - not yet.”

She took a big breath and turned away. God it was so hard on all of them. She loved him so very much but some days she did wonder if they were doing the right thing.

“Felicity….” She turned and looked at him and she could see the worry in his face.

“Oliver I’m not going anywhere. I love you. I will always love you.”

“But?”

“But I cannot forget that you have a daughter. I know that Dali loves me but how would she feel if you left Laurel and we were together?”

Oliver shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. But you must know that my priority is Dali and you. I am not going into this situation blind, Felicity. I know it will be hard, on all of us.”

He rested his chin on her shoulder and she could hear the pleading in his tone. “Please don’t give up on us.”

She turned and looked into his beautiful blue eyes and she knew, no matter what happened that she could never give him up.

He leaned down and kissed her softly and leaned his forehead against hers. “This will work out. It has to.”

She nodded and then pulled back with a smile. “I think we should go back to our room and make the most of our time away.”

Oliver grinned at her and took her hand practically dragging her from the gazebo. She laughed as she stumbled along and then she stopped, tugging his hand. He turned to her with a look of confusion and she grinned.

“Actually, I changed my mind…….” She squealed as Oliver proceeded to pick her up and carry her toward the house. He carried her up the stairs and into their room, and when the door closed behind them, he dumped her on the bed and pounced. 

Their laughter soon turned to sighs and their sighs to moans and they did not leave the room for the rest of the night.

*****

The ringing phone the next morning was only slightly jarring. Both individuals in that bed had finally slept a full night peacefully - because they were with each other. 

_When they had finally decided they couldn’t be nude the entire night, Felicity had put on her p.j.’s and climbed into the bed beside Oliver. She easily plastered herself into the human mold that was seemingly made for her with her head on his shoulder and her body pressed against his side and legs tangled together._

_As much as they had both wanted to make love all night long, they had been content just lying there together, sated, connected in this way, even in complete silence. They were awake without words for half an hour. Both smiled gently. Oliver rubbed his large hand up and down Felicity’s arm, massaging her bicep and elbow. He ran his finger around her jawbone, and she giggled, reminding him that she was still ticklish in that spot._

_Felicity had nuzzled her nose against his chest, drinking in his scent. She let her hand wander over his chest, running her fingers through the light hair and remembering various fake scars and tattoos that the makeup artists applied to him for their show. She kissed his nipple and felt his body stiffen as though preparing himself to make love to her again._

_Instead she put her head back in the comfortable spot between his shoulder and his pectoral muscle, wrapped her right leg over his left and just draped her right arm over his abs._

_‘God...the abs... how I’ve missed these abs…’_

_The thought made her grin against his bare skin._

_“What?” Oliver wondered in a whisper._

_“I’ve missed your abs,” Felicity answered easily._

_Oliver grinned. “You can have them anytime you’d like you know.”_

_Felicity decided quickly that she was too comfortable to have that conversation yet again, so she let the topic drop and closed her eyes. “I love you, Oliver Queen,” she chose to respond._

_“You going to sleep on me?” He wondered with a very satisfied and happy voice._

_“Mmm-hmmm,” she hummed._

_“Then I love you, too,” Oliver smiled and closed his own eyes._

Both were a little surprised but quite thrilled to be waking up in the same position, over eight hours later. They could’ve slept another hour except for...the damn phone.

Felicity raised up and reached over Oliver to the bedside table where her phone was charging. Oliver stayed still not minding at all that her spaghetti-strapped pajama top was riding up on her chest and he glimpsed the underside of her naked breasts. 

He would take advantage of that knowledge eventually - his body began waking up more quickly than he expected.

“Hello?” Felicity answered the call when she saw the picture of her play’s director and her friend on the screen.

“Hey, Sweetheart! Did I wake you? I’m sorry!” Leslie began. “I’ve got a little theater update for you,” she added.

“Leslie, well, yeah, oh, wow, it’s already almost 9:00. I didn’t think we had slept that long…” Felicity’s voice trailed off as she pulled her body back across Oliver’s but sat up by his side.

“We?” Leslie raised her eyebrows and Felicity could feel it on the other side of the line.

“I...um…” Felicity stumbled slightly. “Oliver came in yesterday. He heard about the fire and wanted to come see things for himself.”

“He wanted to come and see how you were doing...for himself, is that what you mean?” Leslie joked slightly.

“Yeah,” Felicity answered honestly.

“You okay?” Leslie wondered. She was familiar with Felicity, Oliver, their questionable relationship, the fact that the two of them were undeniably in love and mix that all together to get the reason that Felicity had chosen to come eastward, to avoid more complications from that love.

Felicity nibbled on her bottom lip and looked at Oliver who had successfully closed his eyes and was attempting to go back to sleep - so she thought. Felicity stretched her arm out and placed her hand softly on his chest, already missing the connection.

“Yeah,” she answered again, this time with a smile. “I’m good,” she said with more assurance. “Now how about our theater? How much damage is there, Les?”

The director nodded on the other end. She had delved far enough into Felicity’s personal life for the moment. She made a mental note, however, to ask her friend about Oliver’s visit and the fact that Felicity was waking up with him.

“Ok, well,” she cleared her mind to switch into true work mode. “The fire was in the upper floors of the building. What we must deal with is the smoke and water damage. We do need to do some cleaning and sanitizing on the stage and the props need a good wash down, but mainly it’s the audience seats that need attention. The Playhouse is bringing in a team to handle the seat cleaning or reupholstering. But we are going to need to oversee the prop cleaning. The couch will be sanitized...we need new pillows… It sounds like a lot, I know, but honestly, it could have been SO much worse.” She paused as she went back over the information that the theater owners had given her.

“What about the dressing rooms?” Felicity wondered. I had some fan gifts in there… Were they damaged?”

“Little bit of water damage in there. We haven’t gotten a close look, but hopefully things are alright,” Leslie said honestly.

Felicity cringed slightly and sighed a little sadly. “When can we get in?”

“The restoration crew is assessing things today. Hopefully they will go to work tomorrow. As long as the fire department says things are structurally sound then we can get back in tomorrow as well and really see what we need to do.”

Felicity sighed again and looked at her hand on Oliver’s chest where he had linked his fingers with hers and was using his thumb to massage the back of her knuckles. “Okay,” she breathed in deeply. “What time should I meet you there?” she questioned with the thought that her time with Oliver was now definitely on a clock.

“How long is Oliver in town?” Leslie chanced to ask.

Felicity again looked back at him, this time his face. She squeezed his fingers and removed her hand from his making Oliver open his eyes to see what she was doing. She reached for his other hand and easily lifted it to her lips, kissing the tips of his fingers as she smiled just a little sadly in his direction.

“He’s got a flight out day after tomorrow,” Felicity had heard him mention that to John, but she never truly followed up on his travel plans.

“Ah, so this is a limited engagement…” Leslie tried to joke.

“I’m sorry, a what?” Felicity’s eyes widened at her friend’s choice of words.

Leslie laughed, “Oh! Sorry, I just meant you’ve only got him for a limited time. Why don’t… Let’s say we’ll meet at 2, or 3 tomorrow afternoons? It really shouldn’t take us too long. Bring Oliver along, it’s fine. We’ll just spend an hour or so figuring things out and then Patrick and I will put a plan of attack together and once Oliver heads home you can come help us.”

Felicity was grateful for her director’s understanding. Her focus should be on the play right now and getting it back on stage and opening the theater doors again. But frankly, now that Oliver was there with her, she didn’t want to miss a minute with him.

“Sounds like a plan,” she nodded as she spoke. “Les, thank you,” she sincerely appreciated the information and the blind understanding. “We will see you tomorrow by 3:00.”

Felicity tossed the phone onto her side of the bed and then lay back down once again finding her mold against Oliver.

“So, we’ve got a theater date tomorrow afternoon?” He wondered.

“Mmm-hmmm,” Felicity answered him quietly.

“Isn’t that good news?” Oliver wondered.

“Yes,” Felicity sighed and kissed his chest where her lips could easily reach.

“So, what’s wrong?” he tried to poke her ribs and she whined at him to stop.

“I like being here with you,” she admitted.

Oliver smiled and bent his neck to place a kiss in her hair. “And I love being here with you. Wanna run away together? Aruba? Nanda Parbat?” He kissed her again as Felicity laughed.

She stretched her body against him, loving the feeling of his arm around her and simply feeling his body touching hers. Felicity rolled toward him just a little more and propped herself up on her elbows.

“Someday, can we?” she allowed herself to ask.

Oliver smiled at her. “You would run away with me?”

Felicity let her face take on a somewhat serious visage. She pressed her lips together, looked at his for a moment and then back into his eyes. “If the right opportunity came up...the timing...our situations… Oliver, you know, I would go anywhere with you.”

He matched her serious look with his own. Oliver turned toward her, raised himself up and proceeded to roll Felicity onto her back. He then pinned her down gently, wrapping his left leg around her right one. He took her left hand in his and brought it to his lips, kissing her knuckles as he continued staring into her eyes.

“Don’t give up on us.” He instructed her again and didn’t hesitate to continue. “I’m going to make that happen. You just have to give me a little more time, Felicity,” he instructed her pleadingly.

“I’m trying,” she said with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

Oliver bent his head to her lips and pressed a kiss to her that touched every nerve down to her toes. His tongue drew patterns against her lips, over her teeth and left his flavor on each taste bud in her mouth.

When he pulled back, pressing his lower body against her hip, spelling out his exact intentions, he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks and adored the redness he had already caused. “Wait for me, Felicity, and I will take you anywhere in the world you want to go. I want to make love to you in every country and on every island around the globe. I will find a way to make that happen,” he promised.

She reached up and ran her fingers through his scruff. 99% of her wanted to believe what he was saying. But as she watched her fingers she spoke softly. “I love you, Oliver. But please don’t lie to me about this. Don’t string me along. I’m willing to fight for you. But I can’t battle a marriage that isn’t going to end.”

Oliver sucked in a breath, his eyes becoming dark with a hint of anger, but both knew that anger was toward himself. “I’m not saying tomorrow or next month. You know that, right?”

Felicity nodded at him and allowed him to kiss her lips again. “So, I’m here in New York. I’m going to finish out my play and find other projects to get into. I want to be with you. But I need you to be honest with yourself and with Laurel and with Dali. If you love me, I deserve a conversation. I don’t know what she wants from you and I don’t want you to lose your daughter over our relationship. I’m willing to try and make this work, but Oliver…”

He stopped her before she could say anything else, kissing her again as though his life and happiness depended on it...because they did. He heard her every word and they sank deeply into his brain.

But in that moment, he didn’t have words to try and ease her anxieties. The only thing he knew to do was again show her his love and adoration. So, he spent the next hour worshipping every inch of her body and telling her how much he loved her each moment his mouth wasn’t otherwise occupied.


	5. Chapter 5

Oliver leaned his head back against the seat as his plane took off for Vancouver. This morning had been the most difficult of his life. Felicity had decided that they would not see each other again until the finale and he knew she was serious. It was going to hurt them both, but he knew he could not put Felicity through the turmoil any longer. He loved her. He wanted to be with her, and he needed to let his past with Laurel go.

He had been holding on for too long and he knew that. At first it had been because he hoped he and Laurel could try to work things out. However, at one of their marriage counselling sessions when she said she was glad he had someone to turn to for sex it had been over. After that he had stayed for Dali. He knew it was going to turn her little world upside down and it broke his heart. But Dali loves Felicity and so going home and talking to Laurel and then Dali seemed like his best option.

A small smile curved his lips as he thought of the last few days with Felicity. They had been wonderful. Seeing her smile, the curve of her lips the softness of her skin. He needed her like he needed air to breath. They were soulmates and both had known that from the moment they met.

John had agreed to meet him at the airport and so when he arrived, he grabbed his bag and headed out front. His friend and colleague was leaning against his car with a shit eating grin on his face.

“What are you so happy about?” Oliver growled the words as he and John slipped into the car. He hated being back in Vancouver without Felicity. Grumpy Oliver was back.

“I still cannot believe you left without telling anyone.” John shook his head at him.

“I had to make sure she was ok John.” Oliver sounded huffy but it did not phase John one bit.

“Yeah. Because heaven forbid, she get a papercut and you are not there to take care of her.” Oliver glared at him and John laughed. He loved teasing his friend. It made dealing with grumpy Oliver more bearable.

“So how is the taping going?”

“Well they have plans for your scenes over the next two nights.”

“Shit.” Oliver cursed as he heard his schedule. That was going to make it so much more difficult to talk to Laurel when she returned from Mexico tomorrow. Now that he had made up his mind and Felicity refused to see him until it was done, he was ready to get it over with.

“That’s all on you man. That is what you get for leaving without telling the powers that be.” John drove back to the studio lot and pulled up next to Oliver’s trailer. He set the car in park and then turned to his friend.

“How is she?”

“She is beautiful. Overall, she is doing good, but she told me we cannot see each other again until the finale.”

“You mean until you talk to Laurel.” Oliver nodded. John knew Felicity would eventually put her foot down and she finally did.

“Can you blame her man? This has gone on long enough for everyone.”

Oliver rubbed his face and ran his fingers through his hair. “I know.”

“Don’t let Laurel use your citizenship against you. You are a great father. You two can work this out and do what is best for Dali.”

“That is my plan.”

John gave him a pat on the shoulder and Oliver slipped out of the car with his bag. As he walked into his empty trailer, he found himself missing her laugh and the way her eyes danced when she teased him. He already missed her so much, but he had missed his daughter to, and his priority today was going to see her.

***

Oliver walked into his trailer exhausted. It was 4 o’clock in the morning and he had been filming all night. He pulled off his clothes and took a quick shower before he collapsed into his bed. He was going to meet with Laurel this afternoon and he wanted to be very well rested because he needed his wits about him.

He had been going over and over in his mind what he was going to say to her. He just prayed that they could both be civil and work toward what was best for Dali.

Oliver woke up six hours later feeling a little refreshed. He usually crashed after working long nights, but he had found it hard to sleep the last few nights. He pulled on his clothes and grabbed his sunglasses. He was going to meet Laurel in a public place for lunch. Dali was still with his mother, so this was the perfect opportunity for them to talk alone.

He walked into the restaurant and when he saw Laurel sitting at the table a sadness swept over him. Their relationship had started with the best of intentions. She was a beautiful woman and at first things had been great. But over time they had grown apart. Dali had been the one good thing that had come from their marriage and he would always have a connection to Laurel because of her.

She didn’t smile when he walked up and kissed her on the cheek. He took his seat and then ordered a whiskey neat before looking across at Laurel.

“You look well rested.” He decided to start a light conversation. Easing into what he had to say was the best option.

“So, do you. How was New York?” Laurel’s voice was stilted but at least she was talking. There was nothing he hated more than when she went into silent mode.

“Laurel, we need to talk.”

She took a sip of her wine and then clasped her hands together on the table primly. “What is it this time Oliver? You and your girlfriend going away on vacation?”

“No Laurel. I want a divorce.”

She flinched but overall did not seem affected by his words. “Why now?”

“Because it is time Laurel. You and I both know our marriage has been over for a while. The time we do spend together is spent with Dali.”

“You started seeing Felicity…”

Oliver was not going to let her finish that sentence. “Don’t go blaming Felicity for our problems Laurel. We had issues long before she came along. Not to mention we had not had sex in almost two years before I met her.”

Laurel fidgeted in her seat, but she could not deny that. 

“I just wanted to see if we could work things out civilly. Particularly when it comes to Dali’s custody. I would like shared custody.”

Laurel huffed a laugh at that. “You have to be kidding. You expect me to let my daughter spend that much time with you and your….” She knew not to say it, so she stopped herself.

“I expect you to do what is best for Dali.” Oliver’s voice was tight with control. He felt their talk skidding off the rails, and he needed to stop it. 

Laurel stood and grabbed her purse. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore right now...”

“Laurel, wait….”

She walked off and Oliver sighed. Maybe he needed to give her some time to come to terms with this decision. He threw some bills on the table and made his way back to the lot as he thought about their talk. He knew it was going to be a hard talk. A small part of him had hoped it would go smoothly but he should know by now that anything with Laurel was never simple.

He closed the door to his trailer and looked down at his phone. He wanted to call Felicity so bad that his fingers were tingling. He knew that she had told him they would not see each other until he talked to Laurel. But did that also mean no phone calls too?

He went to her number and hit the dial button and as the phone rang his heart raced. 

“Oliver.”

“Hey.”

“Hey, is everything ok?”

“I just needed to hear your voice. I just got done talking to Laurel.” 

Felicity blew out a breath. He had done it. 

“How did it go?”

“At first it was better than I expected. She actually voiced her opinion.”

“But?” Felicity knew there was a but coming.

“But then she got up and walked out. Said she didn’t want to talk anymore about it right now.”

“How are you feeling?” Her voice softened as she thought of the emotions he must have been feeling talking to Laurel.

“I am sad but more than that there is a small sense of relief. This has been coming for a while now and I am glad that it is finally in motion.”

“Just give her a few days Oliver.” 

“That was my plan. So, what are you up to today?” He just wanted to hear her voice. He wanted to keep her on the phone for as long as he could.

“Well, I have an audition for another play.”

Oliver frowned, and he was glad she could not see his face. Another play would mean she would be staying in New York. What about the finale of their show? He knew better than to ask about that. She had promised him she would be there. He needed to trust that.

“How long does it run?” He needed to show her that he cared, that he was excited for her.

“Just a few weeks. They are going to see how it is accepted before they commit to anything long term.”

“I miss you.” Oliver’s voice was husky, and the sound caused ripples of awareness to course through her.

“I miss you too. Oliver, I must go. I am meeting with the writer and other actors of the new play tonight for dinner. Make me a promise?”

“Anything.” 

“Go easy on John and the crew.” He could hear the smile and teasing in her tone and he laughed.

“I love you Oliver.”

“I love you too Felicity. Bye.”

He waited until she hung up the phone and then he blew out a breath. Just hearing her voice was tough but knowing that the ground work had been set for them to be together made it all worth it.

***

Felicity hung up the phone, her throat clogged with tears. He had really done it. He had started the process and had the conversation with Laurel. It was still hard for Felicity to believe. She had been waiting six years for this moment and it was finally going to happen. She was sad at the loss of their marriage. Divorce was not a subject she took lightly but when all parties are miserable in the marriage it changed things.

She missed him desperately, but she knew that refusing to see him until he had the talk had been the best thing for them all. It had spurred him to do what he had needed to do for years. Felicity slowly dressed for her evening out with the people from her new play. She really didn’t feel like going out tonight, but it was an opportunity for her to meet the rest of the cast and get a chance to talk to the author about the storyline.

As she got dressed, she looked at the picture she had sitting by her bedside. It was a selfie that she and Oliver had taken while at the bed and breakfast and it showed them both smiling. Oliver had the most beautiful smile she had ever seen on a man. He rarely showed it fully except around her.

She kissed her fingers and placed them on his face. She would be heading back to Vancouver in a few months for the finale and a little spurt of excitement coursed through her.

She plastered a smile on her face and headed out of her apartment and toward the restaurant. Soon she was caught up in the evening and placed her problems with Oliver to the side for a time.

As the evening passed and she enjoyed the company she was keeping she realized, she was glad she came.

Maybe the next few months without him wouldn’t be so bad after all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was soley written by Anna. I think it says me because I posted it. Anyway......
> 
> Enjoy!!!!

Oliver sat on the couch, a chilled drink in his hand. He was paying close attention to the movie his daughter was supposedly watching on their big screen TV. He had never been one to pay close attention to Disney musicals, but this one was catching his attention. 

It may have been because he was still trying to figure out how to have a deeper conversation with his wife about his request for a divorce. He had seen her a couple of times in the past 36 hours since she had walked out on their talk.

Or it could be that the subject matter in this movie might have been making him think about Felicity. It was till mind numbing to him that she had moved away. 

The third option could have also been that Dali was singing along to nearly every one of these songs. He just could not get enough of her little voice trying to mimic Vanessa Hudgens or Ashley Tisdale. 

Whatever the case, his mind was wandering between Felicity, Laurel, and Dali and nothing in his mind could make their situation perfect. 

He looked up at the television. Zac Efron’s character was suddenly standing in a tree, talking to Vanessa’s character. The young man was doing his very best to talk the love-of-his-life into returning to Albuquerque for their senior prom. It seemed he wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer. 

Oliver stared for several moments. “Oh, to be seventeen again _…”_ he sighed. 

“Daddy?” Dali’s little voice broke him out of the moment, and he realized she was standing right in front of him. Her hands were on his knees and her little face was looking concerned. 

“Yeah, Babe, what’s wrong?” He took a sip of his drink, sat it down on the table beside him, and then leaned toward his daughter.

“I was gonna ask you the same thing.” Dallas reached up and used her little index finger to wipe away a wet spot from under Oliver’s eye. “You’re sad. You’re crying. You don’t even like High School Musical, specially the third one!” 

Oliver laughed at her, but he realized his daughter wanted an explanation and she deserved one. 

He and Felicity had talked several times about how smart Dali was. She was a very intuitive little girl who picked up on her parents’ emotions, especially her father’s. Felicity had helped Oliver understand that if he just talked to his five-year-old, like a little person, she could help him see things in a simple, more understandable view. 

“Is it something with Aunt Lici?” Dali continued her questioning and Oliver rubbed his hands against his thighs. 

He then rubbed his hands together and reached out to Dali, asking her to climb into his lap. 

“Is Aunt Lici okay?” 

“Yeah, Sweet Pea, she is okay.” He answered her and thought about where this conversation might be headed. 

“Is she gonna come home soon? I saved her some cookies. I told her, we made them without nuts so she can have some. I know nuts make her sick.” 

Oliver shut his eyes. He had imagined him and Laurel sitting down to talk to Dali about new living arrangements and a change in their family. He had also imagined himself and Felicity talking to Dali. 

But here he was alone with his daughter and feeling a desperate need to share with her what was on his heart.

“Daddy?” Dali asked again. “I miss Aunt Lici and you do too, don’t you?” 

The little girl sat sideways in her father’s lap, her legs stretched out across his. She turned her body toward his and gave him a hug. When she pulled back, she saw more tears on her father’s face. She used her fingertips to wipe them away, and then mimicked a normal Felicity action that she had witnessed hundreds of times. Dallas took her little fingernails to scrape ever-so-gently through Oliver’s scruff of a beard. 

“Oh, Dali.” Oliver wrapped his arms around her and hugged her somewhat tightly.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” Dali spoke into her father’s ear with what seemed to be a wisdom far beyond her age.

Oliver let her pull out of his grasp and he looked at her. “You’re too young to understand this stuff, Dali, but it’s all going to affect you. I want you to know, right now, if you need to be angry at anyone, I want you to be angry at me.” 

“Why?” Dali sat up a little straighter and crossed her arms, configuring an angry type face as she thought about her father’s words.

“Did you make Aunt Lici go away?” 

Oliver swallowed slowly, still trying to get his thoughts together. He wondered how to put words with those thoughts to explain to his daughter.

“Yes...and no…” Dali’s look turned from one of anger to something silly because that just made no sense.

“Dali, you know that I love your Aunt Lici, right?” 

Dallas nodded. 

“Years ago, before you were born, I _thought_ I loved your mom the way that I love Felicity. And there is a part of me that still loves your mom, because she is _your_ mom. Part of me will always love her because of that. She gave me you and you are my princess, the most important girl in my life.”

“Ok.” Dali’s eyes softened and Oliver gave each of them a minute or so to think about those words. 

“Did you and Mommy used to hold hands and kiss?” Dallas wondered. 

Oliver thought back. There was a time that he and Laurel shared short kisses in public or held hands as they waited in line. But he realized quickly that those short displays of affection couldn’t hold a candle to the way he and Felicity expressed their love for one another. 

“We did,” he told his daughter with a small smile. “We would hug, and kiss and she would sit on my lap when we went to our friends’ house for dinner. But after a few years, we stopped. I would try to give her hugs and she started pushing me away. I would give her kisses on her cheek and she would lean just out of reach - like you do when we’re playing sometimes? But she wasn’t playing. I’m not sure what changed Dali, but Mom just didn’t like me being as cuddly anymore.” 

“Was that cause you met Aunt Lici?” Oliver was only slightly surprised that she might ask that question. He couldn’t be angry at it, but he began to wonder if Laurel had put that thought into the little girl’s mind. Instead he felt the urge to answer her honestly no matter what made her think of it. 

“No, Baby. That was before I ever met Felicity. Something between me and Mommy changed when you were little. I wish I could tell you what it was, but even I don’t know. I don’t think Mommy even knows. I think we just both realized that we don’t love each other like we should, to make each other happy.” 

“But Felisty makes you happy, and she loves you and you love her. Do you make each other happy?” Dallas sat still as she thought about what Oliver was telling her. 

“We do.” Oliver nodded at her with an intentionally blank look on his face. 

“Dali?” He gave his little girl another moment to think. “Does that make you angry… I mean… I know your mom and I should love each other and make each other happy. So, does it make you mad that I love somebody else like that instead?”

Dallas crossed her arms across her little chest because his question was a serious one and she realized that. She took time to think about her feelings because she could tell her father wanted her true answer. 

“It doesn’t make me mad,” she finally said and put her hand back on Oliver’s chin. “It makes me sad though, cause Felisty went away and she loves you and makes you happy.” 

Oliver smiled at the way she said Felicity’s name. “Are you not gonna call her Aunt Lici anymore?” He asked the question with a bit of worry. 

“I don’t know,” Dali looked into her dad’s eyes. “Is she gonna come back to us so you can be happy again?” 

Oliver took a deep breath. He didn’t want Dali to be mad at Felicity for any reason at all. Especially not for simply going away. 

“That part is a little harder to explain, Dali. But please don’t be mad at Lici for that, okay? I really, really don’t want you to be mad at her. She loves you and would never do anything to hurt you, and I know you love her too. I don’t want that to change. I need you to love her.”

“Then why did she go away from us?” Dali began showing a little anxiety at this point because she truly didn’t understand why Felicity had moved so far away. 

“Because…” Oliver hesitated, “because it isn’t right for me and your mom to be married when I am in love with Felicity. That isn’t the way marriage is supposed to work, Dali. For a while, your mom liked Felicity and they got along. But,” Oliver took a shaky breath but continued speaking slowly, “when you started spending time with me and Felicity together, Mom didn’t like it. Felicity and I know that unless your mom and I get _un-married_ then we shouldn’t really spend time together.” 

“But you just went to New York to see her,” Dallas questioned with confusion. 

“I did that because of a fire, Dali. I needed to make sure Lici was okay. I wanted to ask her to come back home, but she reminded me that she can’t do that. It is too hard for her to be around me _and you_ because your mom and I are still married.” 

“So just get un-married,” Dali suggested as simply as she could. 

Oliver cried. 

“What?” Dali wondered suddenly why her father was so sad. Her answer seemed very simple in her mind and yet it had apparently broken her father’s heart. “Daddy?” she asked with a heart full of worry. “I don’t understand!”

She put both little hands on his cheeks and waited for him to open his eyes. 

“Baby,” he drew in a long breath and let it out slowly as he blinked, trying to focus on her scared little face. “If Mommy and I get un-married, it means we won’t live together anymore. It means you would live with either her, or me, and we wouldn’t see each other as much as we do now. I’m not sure that I could be happy if I can’t see you whenever I want to.”

Dali looked at him with little tears in her own eyes. “But would Aunt Lici come home?” 

Oliver took a second and wiped her little eyes before wiping his own. “Maybe… I think she would,” he admitted. 

Dallas stared into her father’s eyes and felt something deep in her young heart as she spoke. “Then you would find a way to be happy, because she loves you and makes you happy.” 

Oliver felt the waterworks open yet again. “But Dali, I cannot - I will not- take a chance of losing you. You are the one thing in my life that I can’t let go of, ever.” Oliver practically sobbed. “You can’t understand this...and I’m so sorry...I just…” 

Dallas climbed out of his lap before he could even think of finishing. She ran to her bedroom and retrieved a picture from her desk drawer and brought it back to him. 

Oliver stared at the photo of him, Felicity and Dali together in the studio. They had their arms around each other, smiling from ear to ear. He remembered John taking the picture with Felicity’s Polaroid camera and handing it to Dali to keep. The only other thing Oliver could remember was that he felt truly happy and content with his two girls.

Dali watched him look at the picture and touch it with the softest of fingertips against Felicity’s face. He looked up at his daughter and tilted his head waiting for the explanation he knew her young voice was about to share.

“Will you always be my Daddy?” Oliver nodded strongly.

“Will Mommy always be my Mommy?” 

Oliver nodded and added, “Of course she will.”

Dali tapped her own little finger on the picture he was holding and looked back into his eyes seriously. “Aunt Lici makes you smile. You love her. She loves you and I love both of you. Daddy, I just want you to be happy. If Felisty makes you happy then tell her you and Mommy are gonna get un-married so she can come home, cause you’re not ever gonna lose me. I promise.”

She made it sound so simple and easy, and, maybe it was. Oliver soaked in her little words and the giant bear hug that came after them. He looked down at the picture of the three of them together and made up his mind yet again. 

He wanted Felicity to come home.


	7. Chapter 7

Oliver let his little girl stay up till almost 11:00 that night, far past her normal 8:30 bedtime. But when Laurel had called telling him that she was staying at Nyssa’s for the night he let out a sigh of relief and enjoyed the few extra awake hours with Dali.

After the emotional talk the two of them had shared, Oliver had finished watching the movie with his daughter in his lap, the two of them sharing popcorn, gummy bears that Dali had stashed in her room for a special occasion such as this, and dear old dad even let her have a glass of cola.

Dali had asked him to call Felicity, almost as soon as Oliver had finally settled himself down. But Oliver had refused - he truly had to refuse her request because he also wanted to talk to Felicity, but the situation was still too fragile to know how things would turn around.

Dali had pouted, big time. She pulled out all the ‘ _Aunt Lici needs to know’_ and _‘If you love her you should call her’._ Not to mention the fact that she had only gotten to speak to Felicity for barely two minutes while Oliver was in New York with her.

That’s what lead to the candy and cola fest as Oliver tried to get back on the six-year-old’s good side.

That was also the string of events that lead to Dali sneaking Oliver’s iPad into her room before her father put her to bed shortly after eleven. And with the unusual range of emotions that Oliver had gone through, he quickly read his little princess a story, tucked her into her bed and then went to his own room and flopped onto the empty bed.

She at least waited until she heard Oliver’s bedroom door close before pulling out the electronic device. After that she didn’t hesitate to open the FaceTime app and found Felicity’s picture. Dali grinned. She needed to have a good talk with her Aunt Lici.

***

At nearly two a.m. on the east coast, Felicity heard her phone buzz but wondered if she was dreaming. She had a late night with Leslie and Patrick as they discussed getting the play back on the stage. They also discussed what last minute work they needed to do before they reopened in two days.

Still, a two-a.m. phone call wasn’t a welcome part of her fresh dream state.

When her device continued buzzing for several more seconds, she finally pulled the sleep mask off her eyes and squinted toward the bedside table. _“What the hell?”_ she sighed and pulled an arm from under the cover to grab her phone.

Without her contacts the screen was blurry, but after another couple of seconds she focused just enough to make out Oliver’s name. In that instant, she quickly sat up in bed and accepted the call.

“Oliver?” She spoke quickly in a hushed voice as though she was going to disturb someone else in the room.

“No!” The young voice on the other end giggled. “Aunt Lici, it’s me! Dali! I’m Face Timing you but all I see is your ear!” She laughed again.

“Dali.” Felicity took a breath, pulled the phone away from her ear and reached for her glasses before pulling the comforter around her and looking into the phone. “Do you know what time it is, Little Lady?” 

Felicity moved a bit of hair from her eyes and then could see, through her lenses, that Dallas was grinning. Had the girl been about 10 years older Felicity would have asked her if she was drunk.

“It’s 11 o’clock. Daddy let me stay up late cause Mom’s staying at Nyssa’s tonight and we watched High School Musical and had a heart to heart talk.”

Felicity tried to wake up a little more to think about Dali’s words.

“Your father watched High School Musical? Dali, is he sick?” Felicity asked with just a touch of sarcasm.

“No, he isn’t sick. But he misses you a lot and I wanted to talk to you.” Dali watched Felicity through the screen as she squinted her eyes trying to understand.

“Dali, I’m not sure that’s something that you and I need to discuss. I told your dad, I need to stay in New York right now. I’ve got a job here that I need to do. And he needs to do his job in Vancouver. He’ll be fine.” Felicity felt sure something must have been said but wasn’t sure, other than this, what to tell Oliver’s daughter.

“Will you be fine?” Dali asked with a little bit of sadness on her face.

“Of course, I will,” Felicity tried to brush off the question.

“But Daddy said you only went to New York because he and Mommy are still married,” Dali supplied.

Felicity held her breath for a moment with a look on her face that caught Dali’s attention.

“He talked to me today Felisty.” Dali went on with her thought as Felicity realized Dali was using her full name. “Daddy told me that he loves you more than he loves Mommy. But I knew that already, cause you guys hug and kiss and hold hands and stuff. He and Mommy used to do that, he said, but now Mommy doesn’t like it anymore. Daddy needs somebody to hold his hand and kiss him. That’s why he needs you. Cause you love him, too, don’t you Felisty?”

The little girl's words were running together in Felicity’s mind. She couldn’t quite wrap her mind around what was being said or the meaning of the words or if there really was any meaning behind the words.

“Dali, where’s your Dad?” Felicity asked before she let the thoughts completely take over.

“He’s in his bed. I told him we should call you after he stopped crying. Cause I knew you could make him feel better. But he said we had to wait. I think he has to talk to Mommy about getting _un-married_? But when they do, then you can come home and maybe I can live with you and Daddy or at least stay with you sometimes.”

Felicity sucked in an overflow of air. She stared directly at Dallas as this new bit of information suddenly swelled in her brain.

Dali sucked in a gasp when she heard a soft knock on her door. “Dali, who are you talking to?” 

The doorknob turned and Oliver walked in just as his daughter shoved the iPad with Felicity still listening under her pillow.

“Just my animals, Daddy.” She tried to lie.

Oliver looked at her with a tilted head and the gaze that told her he knew she was fibbing.

Dali pressed her lips together. “I only did it cause I thought it would make you happy.”

“Did what?” Oliver raised his eyebrows, watching his daughter closely as she reached under her pillow and pulled out the device. She pointed the screen toward him where he could easily see who was on the other side.

“Felicity.” He smiled a nervous, closed-lip, happy-yet-sad smile in her direction.

“Hi.” Felicity shared very simply with a genuine soft smile.

“Dali, did you know it’s two o’clock in the morning in New York? You woke Aunt Lici up.” Oliver softly chastised his daughter.

“Sorry, Aunt Lici.” Dali looked at her and then at Oliver. “I thought if I told her you were gonna fix things and get unmarried, then she could go ahead and come home.”

Oliver pressed his lips together and gently took the device from Dali so he could look at Felicity more directly. “Can I call you back in the morning?” He wondered with a glance away from her and then a look directly into her eyes.

“Are you okay?” Felicity wondered seriously.

Oliver tilted his head back and forth as another round of nerves and emotions crept up his body before he nodded slowly. “Are you?”

Felicity licked her lips and swallowed. She puckered her lips and blew him a kiss. “I will be. I love you.” She offered which made Oliver close his eyes momentarily and gave him a bit of a reprieve. “Can I talk to Dali again before you make her go to sleep?”

Oliver looked at his daughter, back at Felicity and then at Dali again. “I’m gonna sit here while you chat, Little Miss.” He handed the device back to her.

“I’m sorry, Lici.” Dallas reverted to the name she preferred to call Felicity. She glanced at Oliver and then back at the screen. “I just want you to be happy and I know you’re happy together. So, I just was gonna tell you that you could come back home.”

Felicity pressed her lips together. She kept her eyes focused on Dali knowing that if she looked toward Oliver this conversation could get way out of hand. “Dali, I need you to listen to me for minute, okay?”

Dali nodded obediently.

Felicity took a breath. “I love your dad. You know that. I love you, so, so much, I love you. But your dad is right. While he and your mom are married, it’s better for me - for us - if I’m away. If...and that’s a big word here, Dali, _IF_ your dad and mom get... _un-married_...they must make that decision together. That’s not up to me and it’s not up to you, okay? That is something _they_ must decide. It’s a really, big decision and it’s not an easy one to make. So, you let them take their time, so they make the right decision, okay?”

Dali nodded at her. “So, you’re not gonna come home, are you?” Her mind immediately summed up its own outcome.

“I didn’t say that, did I?” Felicity looked at her, still seriously. “I love you and I love your dad. And if the time comes...when we...can be together…” Felicity took the chance to glance at Oliver, “then we will talk about me coming home.”

“How long will that be?” Dali whined.

Felicity’s shoulders shrugged. She heard Oliver take in a breath. Both adults knew Dali’s temperament was wavering with the late hour and because she wasn’t getting her way.

“Dallas,” Oliver put an arm around her shoulder. “This is something that your mom and I have to talk about. It’s going to take some time. Felicity and I will be talking too. Don’t worry about that, okay. You will get to talk to her, and we will figure this all out. But right now, you need to let Felicity go back to sleep, and _you_ need to go to sleep. For real this time!” He added with emphasis. 

Dali looked back at Felicity with a pout on her lips. “I want you to come home. I miss you.” 

Felicity smiled at her and blew Dali a kiss. “I miss you, too, my Baby Llama. You can call or FaceTime me anytime Dali, you know that, right?” Felicity offered.

“Except...when it’s past both of your bedtimes,” Oliver leaned into the shot and looked at both girls. This time he smiled.

Both girls rolled their eyes at him and then giggled. 

Oliver took the electronic from Dali, pointed toward her pillow and watched as she slid under the covers and closed her eyes. When he looked back at the screen Felicity smiled at him. 

“Show me,” she requested.

Oliver shook his head, “What?”

“Turn the screen around so I can see her curled up in bed.”

Oliver did as she instructed and Felicity let out a quiet _“Aww,”_ as she watched Dallas grasping one of her stuffed animals that Felicity had given her.

“Did you really talk to her, Oliver?” Felicity asked when he turned the screen back toward himself.

“I did,” he nodded 

“You’ll call me tomorrow and tell me about it?” Felicity requested.

“I will. Now go to sleep,” he instructed her as well. 

“I hafta turn my phone off,” she started.

“No, you don’t,” Oliver shook his head. “Set it up on the nightstand, pointing at the pillow.”

Felicity rolled her eyes but did as he suggested.

Oliver backed out of Dali’s room making sure the door was closed and that she still had her eyes closed. He looked back as Felicity fluffed her pillow and began putting the sleep mask back over her eyes.

He made his way back to his bedroom and sat down on his bed as she put her head down onto her pillow and tried to settle in again.

“G’night Lici, I love you.” He smiled as she bit on her bottom lip and returned his grin with her eyes closed and covered.

"Night Oliver. I love you, too.”

***

Felicity woke the next morning to her phone ringing and she smiled when she saw it was Oliver. True to his word he had called, and she picked up the phone and teased. “Didn’t I just talk to you last night?”

“If I had my way, we would be doing more than talking.” Oliver grinned at her and she had to admit it was good to see his smiling, teasing face. She settled back on the bed with her covers pulled to her waist and smiled back. But she knew this talk was a serious one, so she gave him a thoughtful look.

“So, tell me about this talk you had with Dali.” She fidgeted with the comforter as she waited. She did not know why she was so nervous.

“Last night we were watching High School Musical and I was thinking about us and our situation and Dali noticed that I was sad. She asked me about it, and I felt it was a good time to talk to her about the divorce.”

“Oh Oliver.” She felt for him because nothing meant more to him than that little girl and the thought of hurting her was a hard pill for him to swallow. “It seems like it went well.”

“Overall it went very well.” He gave a rueful smile. “Kids make things so simple sometimes.”

“Well she IS a smart little girl. I think she takes after her Aunt Lici.” Felicity teased but she could tell there was more to say.

“I told her that I was no longer in love with her Mom, but that no matter what I would always love her.”

“What was her response?”

He could feel his eyes tearing up again because her words still made him emotional. “She told me she just wants me happy and that you make me happy. So basically, that her Mommy and I should just un-marry.”

Felicity leaned her head back against the headboard. She loved Dali so much and this only made her love her more. “How are you feeling about it this morning?”

Oliver sighed. He felt good but he was still concerned about having to talk to Laurel again. He hoped and prayed things would go better this time. “I feel good, but I just don’t know how my second talk with Laurel is going to go.”

“When are you going to see her?”

Oliver’s face turned just a little red. “When she wakes up.”

Felicity sat up straight in the bed. “She is there?”

“She stayed at Nyssa’s last night and came in just a little while ago and went straight to her room.”

Felicity knew that had to be awkward. Maybe now that Oliver had initiated the talk with both Laurel and Dali, he could get an apartment. He had talked about doing just that over the years and it would make things so much easier.

Felicity looked at his face. He seemed tired, but a little lighter and she knew that was due to his talk with Dallas. “While all of this is well and good nothing is going to change between us right now Oliver. I will be coming back for the finale as I promised but you and I cannot see each other again, personally, until your marriage is over.”

Oliver looked at her on the screen of his iPad. Her blonde hair was tumbling around her shoulders and one of her shirt straps has fallen baring her shoulder. “Every time you say that it makes my heart ache. But you are right.” He traced his finger down the image of her cheek. “Can I at least call you in a few days?”

She gave him a tender smile. “I would love that.”

“I love you so much Licy. Please don’t forget that.”

“I love you too Oliver. More than you know.”

They both lingered for a moment before Felicity finally did what needed to be done and hung up first. She threw her phone on the bed and leaned her head back with a huff. Telling Oliver that she would not see him was the hardest words she had ever had to speak but it was the right thing to do.

Now if only Laurel would do the right thing too.


	8. Chapter 8

Laurel sat on her bed her mind and heart racing. She knew that when she walked out of her bedroom door that Oliver would be waiting. Truth be told she was not sure if she was ready to talk to him just yet. She still had some residual anger from their “talk” the other day and every time she thought of that “woman” going anywhere near Dali, it made her seethe.

She stood and looked in the mirror evaluating herself. She felt she still looked good after all these years and after having a child. She had always been a slightly vain person, and so the thought of being alone weighed heavily on her mind. 

Nyssa had assured her that she would never be alone. She would always have her as a friend. That made her feel slightly better, but she could not help but think of the romantic side. The thought of being close to someone again was not a pleasant one for her. Being intimate left you vulnerable and she felt like it made her weak as a woman. Luckily the man she was seeing did not care about cuddles and hand holding. Her relationship with him was matter of fact and a little sterile and that suited her just fine.

She had met him during a trial she had been working for the DA’s office. He was a local attorney and the attraction had been immediate. They had met for coffee a few times and that had led to dinner. The sex had been quick and simple and had appealed to Laurel because he had not lingered for cuddles. As soon as they were done, they both dressed and walked out the door. He had called her a few days later and so they had been seeing each other on and off for about two months. She had kept the relationship to herself but maybe it was time she told Oliver.

She opened the door and walked into the living room where she heard cartoons playing on the TV. Dali was sitting at the coffee table eating a bowl of cereal while she giggled at some cartoon she was watching. Laurel walked over and kissed her on the head.

“Good morning baby.”

Dali looked up at her with a toothy smile. “Good morning Momma.”

Laurel looked around. “Where is your father?”

“He is taking a shower.” Dali turned back to the TV and soon the giggles could be heard again.

Laurel let out a breath of relief as she walked into the kitchen. There was coffee perking and she poured herself a cup thankful for a little more time. She checked her phone and saw a text from Nyssa, and she smiled and let her know things were ok and she would talk to her later. 

She made herself some toast and sat at the bar to eat her breakfast. She had some errands to run today, so maybe she could slip out before Oliver came back downstairs. She finished her toast and was placing her plate in the sink when she heard Oliver walk up behind her. She stiffened and then turned to him.

“Good Morning Laurel.” He stood in the doorway looking as handsome as always but there was no feeling there for him. For the first time in a long time it hit her. She had no romantic feelings for him anymore. 

“Good Morning.” She placed her plate in the sink and went to move past him, but he stopped her.

“I was hoping that we could talk this morning. Thea is coming by to pick up Dali and take her to a movie, so we will be alone.”

“Oliver I really don’t….”

Oliver interrupted her. “Laurel we need to talk and get some things resolved so we can both move forward. Please.”

She knew he was not going to give up and she finally decided that it was best to just get it over with. “Fine. But we talk when Dali is out of the house.”

Oliver agreed as he went to pour a cup of coffee. “Thea should be here any minute.” He took his coffee cup and set it on the bar. “Dali, sweetheart, go get dressed. Aunt Thea will be here soon to pick you up.”

“Yay!” Dali squealed and raced to her room. 

Oliver looked at Laurel as he took a sip of his coffee. “Can I make you some breakfast?”

Laurel shook her head, “No I had some toast.”

The tension in the air was making them both stiff so Laurel walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch, immediately picking up her phone and checking her social media.

Oliver straightened the kitchen, putting up the cereal and milk that Dali had left on the counter. Wiping down the counters he heard the doorbell and he walked to answer as his nerves took root. 

He opened the door to his sister, and she hugged him giving him a knowing look. He had told her what was going to happen today and as much as she liked Laurel, she wanted her brother to be happy. Clearly, he was not happy with Laurel. 

“Dali is getting dressed.” Oliver led her into the living room and Thea smiled half-heartedly at Laurel.

“Hey Laurel.”

She looked up from her phone and smiled at Thea. “Hey Thea. So, you and Dali are going to the movies?” She always liked Thea and they had gotten along well over the years.

“Yes, she has been bugging me to take her to see Dora the Explorer.” They both laughed and Oliver started up the stairs. 

“I am going to go check on Dali.” 

Laurel smiled, “Yes, she has been going nuts over that movie. Just don’t let her eat too much candy, ok?”

Thea smiled, “Don’t worry about that. But I was going to take her for ice cream too.”

Laurel groaned. “If she comes home hyped up on sugar then I am sending her to your house.”

Thea looked up to see Dali hurrying down the stairs with Oliver close behind her. 

“Aunt Thea!” She raced to her and launched herself at Thea. Thea hugged her close with a loving smile. 

“Hey Dali Bug. You ready for a fun day today?”

Dali grinned big. “Yes. Can I get popcorn AND candy at the movie?”

Thea groaned, “We will see Bug.” She stood back up and walked over to give Oliver a hug and whispered. “Text me when it is ok to bring her home. I love you.”

“I love you too Speedy.” He hugged her tight and then knelt and hugged Dali. “You be good for Aunt Thea.”

“I promise.” She whispered in his ear. “It’s going to be ok Daddy.” She pulled back and looked at him and then turned and ran to her Mommy. “Bye Mommy.”

“Bye Baby, have fun.” Laurel hugged her and then Thea took the little girl’s hand and led her out to her car. 

Oliver watched them drive off before he closed the door and took a deep breath. He let his hand linger on the door as he gathered himself and then he turned and walked back into the living room. Laurel was back on the couch looking at her phone and Oliver sighed. 

He had a feeling this was going to take all his patience.

***

Laurel could feel Oliver watching her as he walked back into the living room. She had to admit she was ignoring him by hiding in her social media. Oh well, he deserved it. She was not going to make this easy for him.

Oliver sat down across from her. “Laurel can you put down your phone so we can talk?”

She clicked off her phone and put it down and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Well talk.” Her voice was sarcastic, and Oliver’s patience started to run thin.

“Laurel, based on our relationship the last few years and the fact that I am in love with someone else, I think it is best that you and I separate. I am going to get an apartment nearby so that I can still be close to Dali, but our marriage is over. I am meeting with my lawyer tomorrow.”

Laurel pinched her lips closed as he talked and when he finished, she spoke, but her words were clipped. “If you think you are going to take Dali away from me to live with that woman then you had better think again.”

“Laurel, I am not planning on taking Dali away from anyone. I am hoping you and I can come to a mutually beneficial custody agreement.”

Laurel laughed coldly. “Mutually beneficial? You mean where we share custody and she spends time with you and your….” She stopped herself before she said the word she wanted to use. 

“Tread lightly Laurel.” Oliver’s voice turned to steel. He would not have her bad-mouthing Felicity. “Felicity loves Dali as if she were her own.”

“But she is not hers, she is mine.” Laurel almost shouted the words but got her temper under control.

“Is Felicity moving in with you?” Laurel crossed her arms. The thought of that woman moving in with him and them being a family with Dali made her furious.

“No, of course not. Felicity is in New York.” He looked down trying to get his frustration under control and then decided to speak from the heart. “Laurel I get that you don’t like Felicity. But you know in your heart that our marriage has not been a marriage for a while. I would think that you would want to move forward, maybe find someone that can make you happy. Clearly that person was not me.”

“It was you at one time.” Laurel said the words and Oliver looked at her with vulnerability. 

“What happened? What changed?” He truly wanted to know.

Laurel sighed and sat forward. She had been thinking about that a lot lately. “I think the distance was a factor. I also think that my postpartum depression played a role.” Her voice had softened, and Oliver noted she was speaking honestly and without hostility for the first time. “After I had Dali I just didn’t want to be held or cuddled or have sex. Sex to me meant possibly having another child and as much as I love Dali I wanted to focus on my career for a change. She was so unexpected, and I was the one that had to let my career go.”

She didn’t have to say the next part, he already knew. “You resented me for that didn’t you? You resented the fact that my career took off and you had to put yours on hold.”

Laurel looked at him in surprise and realized he was right. “Yes. Yes, I did. Oliver I was moving up in my career. Working for the DA’s office was giving me recognition that I did not have before. I was on my way to becoming DA and then it all changed.”

Oliver grew a little angry. “I hope you don’t let Dali feel this disappointment. She doesn’t deserve it Laurel. She is innocent.”

Laurel scoffed, “Of course not Oliver. I love that little girl with all my heart. It is you I can’t stand.”

They both sucked in a breath as her words hit the room. “Laurel I am sorry that you feel that your career suffered because we had a child. We both decided that it might help our relationship. I was not the only one that was in on that decision.”

Laurel sighed, “I know. I thought it was what we both needed, but the reality was completely different and unexpected. I became depressed. I felt bad about myself as a mother.”

“I tried to help you through that, but you pushed me away.”

“I know. I look back now and I can see where that started the fracture in our relationship.” Oliver looked at her stunned. He was still reeling from the fact that she resented him so much but also that she had admitted to being part of where they went wrong.

“I truly am sorry that things did not work out between us. I did love you at one time Laurel.” Her eyes teared up, but she was not going to let him see her emotions. They were too raw. 

“So, where do we go from here?” Laurel voice was resigned, but she also felt a bit lighter.

“Well, I meet with my lawyers tomorrow. I will have them draw up a divorce decree with shared custody of Dali. I would also like it to state that while she is in school that neither of us can move more than 10 miles from the other. She is going to have enough to deal with, so I don’t want her to have to change schools.”

Laurel agreed. “Oliver? While we are being honest, I wanted to let you know that I am seeing someone.”

Oliver looked at her shocked. He had no idea. She had hidden that little tidbit very well.

“We are not serious, but we have been seeing each other on and off for about two months.”

“Uhh, ok. Who is this guy?” Oliver tried to temper his suspicion. Not for Laurel’s sake but for Dali’s. “Has he met Dali? Does she know?”

“Nobody knows. We have not gone public and I have kept him out of Dali’s life until I can figure out where things are headed. His name is Ted Grant and I met him when I was working a case. He is a lawyer.”

Oliver held back his temper. She had gotten mad at him and raked him over the coals for being with Felicity when she had been seeing someone as well. He took a deep breath because he knew that blowing up would not help things. They were tense and he did not want to make things worse.

“I appreciate you not exposing Dali to this person just yet.”

Laurel looked at him with a weary expression. “Despite what you might think Oliver, I do love our little girl.”

“I know you do.”

Laurel perked herself up. She wanted to get this talk over and done. She had enough. “Ok. I will agree to the shared custody for now. Have your lawyers send the paperwork to me and I won’t contest it.”

Oliver let out a breath of relief. It was done. Things were over with Laurel. He felt a sadness in his chest at what they had and what might have been. But he also felt a lightness and a happiness at the thought of being with Felicity that filled his soul.

He had a lot to get done before he saw her in three weeks, and he could not wait to give her the news.

***

Felicity stared at her phone for the fifth time that night. It had been three weeks since she talked to Oliver and she missed him so very much. She didn’t think she had smiled once since she told him they could not see each other. It had broken her heart to utter those words to him. She could see the hurt in his eyes but more importantly, that same hurt was in hers too.

They had been rehearsing the new play for 3 hours straight and it was about time to wrap things up for the day. She was enjoying the new play and felt the writing was amazing, but all her mind could think about was Oliver.

The director wrapped the rehearsal and she gave him a smile as she called out that she would see everyone in a couple of weeks. Tomorrow she was leaving to fly to Vancouver for the finale and the thought of seeing Oliver was making the butterflies in her stomach take flight.

She walked slowly back to her apartment and she wondered what he had been doing lately? Was he sleeping late because he had been up shooting all night? Had he been dragging Diggle to the local bar for drinks because the thought of going back to his trailer alone was too much? She had not gotten any texts or calls from John, so she guessed Oliver was not driving him crazy. Yet!

She entered her apartment and locking the door behind her headed to her bedroom. She still had a few clothes to pack, and she knew her flight was early in the morning. She needed to get some rest. She had talked with the director and he was having her trailer prepared for her so she could go straight there when her flight arrived. She was not ready to see Oliver just yet.

But oh, how she missed him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna and I have decided to end this story at 10 chapters. We cannot thank everyone who has followed it enough for the support and love you have given to us. Thank you so much. We love and appreciate each and every one of you.

Oliver woke early this particular morning and he could not help the smile that crept across his face. Today was the first day of taping for the final episode. Today, Felicity would be returning to the set. Today, Oliver would tell her he was officially divorced.

So much had happened since his talk with Laurel. He had rented an apartment near the house so he could be close to Dali and even though it was bare of furniture he was starting to think of a future there with Felicity. He climbed off the mattress that was serving as his bed and after taking a shower he dressed and walked to the studio lot. 

Felicity had texted him last night and let him know that she was flying in the next morning. They had argued over him picking her up at the airport and finally he had agreed to let her arrive on her own. He was anxious to see her and give her the news and he had even thought about going to her trailer. But he would abide by her wishes and wait.

Felicity walked to the studio, her nerves in high gear and her stomach in knots. Today she would see Oliver for the first time in weeks. Yes, they had talked on the phone quite a bit but seeing him always made her feel like a school girl seeing her crush. It was a wonderfully unnerving feeling. 

She was swamped with hugs as soon as she walked through the door, but she was happiest when two strong arms wrapped around her and engulfed her small frame. John Diggle. Oh, how she had missed him. They had become such good friends over the past seven years and as he looked down at her with his warm brown eyes, she realized just how much she missed him.

He always had been the voice of reason and after she and Oliver had become a “thing” he had continued to be the one person she could go to for sound advice. He supported and loved them both and wanted what was best for them.

“God, I missed you John.” She hugged him tight and she felt his chest rumble as he laughed. 

“Is that why you stayed away for so long?”

She pulled back and gave him a bashful smile. “Will you forgive me?”

“On one condition.”

“Anything for you John.”

“You help Oliver get his head in the game or so help me god I am going to have to strangle the man with my bare hands.”

Felicity laughed, but there was still a sadness behind her eyes. She didn’t know what to expect when she saw Oliver. What she did know was that she loved him.

She felt him before she saw him. It was like a physical shift in the air whenever he was nearby. She saw John look up and turned to see Oliver making his way toward her. She could see the love in his blue eyes, and it took everything she had not to throw herself into his arms.

“I am going to give you guys a minute.” John kissed her forehead and then patted Oliver on the shoulder before he walked away. Felicity gave Oliver a shy smile and she noticed him working his left hand. It was a movement she had seen a thousand times before and indicated he was nervous or edgy. 

“Hi.”

“Hi. I missed you.” Oliver let his eyes roam over her face. He had missed her so much and just being in her presence was electrifying. Felicity felt her face flush.

“I missed you too Oliver.”

He was about to ask her to go talk, so he could give her the papers when the producer called for them.

“Can we talk later?” Oliver placed a hand on her upper arm and Felicity felt the attraction between them spark to life.

“I don’t know Oliver. It’s going to be hard enough to….”

“Please Felicity.” His eyes pleaded with her and she could not say no.

“Ok.”

Their eyes lingered as they always did before they both turned and walked to their perspective places. They could talk later, right now they had to focus on the shoot. Felicity had to admit it felt good to be back on the set that had been home to her for over seven years. This was also where she fell in love with Oliver and she felt a sadness seep into her chest as she thought that it was all ending. After this episode their show, their link, would be no more.

The afternoon passed quickly and she was able to fall right back into old familiar patterns. Working off of both Oliver and John during their scenes was natural to her and time flew by. It was an emotional time and with her feelings already on a rollercoaster, she found it hard not to let her tears fall during the last scene. 

It was the three of them for the last time, side by side, their characters looking off into an uncertain future as the camera faded to black.

Felicity blinked the tears away as she turned and walked toward the door. They were having a party later to celebrate the last episode so she would see everyone later. Right now, she just needed to go. She needed to be by herself and deal with all the emotions that this day had brought to the surface.

She heard footsteps behind her and then she heard his voice. “Felicity, wait. Where are you going?”

She turned but did not look up at him. If she met his eyes, she would lose it. “I need to be by myself. Please. I will see you at the party later.”

Oliver was confused, “I thought we were going to talk…”

Felicity turned, “I can’t deal with this right now.” She walked out the door and the next thing Oliver knew it was closing behind her.

John walked up and placed his hands on his hips. He could see how hard it had been for Felicity to hold it together. 

“Just give her a little time man.”

He turned and looked at John with concern, “I am afraid if I do, I will lose her forever.”

Oliver walked off to his dressing room and John watched him go. He looked at the door where Felicity had just fled and decided at that moment, he just needed to stay out of it. They were both his best friends and he loved them dearly, but they needed to figure this out on their own.

***

Oliver rushed to his dressing room and changed out of his costume before he made his way to his trailer. He needed to talk to Felicity now. He could see the disappointment in her eyes and the hurt and he wanted nothing more than to take that away. His divorce was good news, and he needed to see her and reassure her before he lost her forever.

He stopped by his trailer and picked up the envelope that he had left on the table. He smiled when he thought of the look on her face when she opened it. She was going to be so surprised.

He took a deep breath as he approached her door. His nerves kicked in and he started to wonder if she would even be there. Would she answer the door? She might not want to see him. He knew he could not let his insecurities stop him, so he took a deep breath and he knocked.

***

Felicity sat on her bed with her head in her hands. How could she have thought that she could come back here and then prepare to leave him again? She knew in the back of her mind that it would have been better if she had just stayed away. However, there had been people depending on her and she had made a promise to Oliver.

He had looked so handsome. Seeing him on set again had brought back so many memories of them spending time together between takes. That was when their friendship had blossomed, and it had been the best time of her life. She had fallen in love with him during that time as well. Seeing how sweet and compassionate he could be as well as his sense of humor. All those things had culminated into the perfect storm for her and the day she had told him she loved him had changed her forever.

It had been hard on her at first. She was never one to condone cheating on a spouse or dating a married man, but when she had realized that Oliver and his wife Laurel were more like roommates and he had kissed her that day, there had been no going back. 

She heard a knock at her door, and she sighed thinking it was John. He was always one to come check on her when she and Oliver had a fight and she loved that about him. But right now, she wanted to be alone. She wanted to be able to go to the party resolute that tomorrow she would leave Oliver forever.

She opened the door, her lips ready to tell John to leave when she looked into blue eyes. Familiar, loving blue eyes that made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. Some said Oliver carried his heart on his sleeve, but she knew he carried it in his eyes and his eyes were looking at her.

“Oliver….”

“Felicity can I come in please?”

“Oliver…”

“Please.”

She never could resist that tone in his voice. That soft way he said her name, the way he said please. She stepped back silently, opening the door wider, and he walked through into the tiny space.

Her trailer was one room with a couch and a bed and a small bathroom and when he was in it with her his presence overtook the space. Oliver turned to her as she closed the door and she placed her arms around her waist defensively. She had to be on guard with him or she would never be able to leave.

“What do you want Oliver.”

“I want to talk.”

She pushed past him and sat down on the couch. “Ok, talk.”

Oliver sat down next to her with his arm along the back of the couch and he handed her an envelope. “I have something to give you first.”

She looked at it puzzled. 

“This is for you.”

“For me?” It had some legal address on the front and Felicity looked up at him confused.

“Just open it.” HIs words were soft, and she could have sworn his lips twitched.

Felicity pulled the flap and seeing the pieces of paper inside she pulled them out. She looked down and began to read and he saw when she realized exactly what they were.

“Oliver?”

“Those are my divorce papers. Laurel and I signed them last week.” He watched her face as what he said registered.

“I am officially divorced.”

He could tell she was speechless, so he decided to continue. “After I left you in New York, I knew I had to take the next step, or I was going to lose you. And Felicity? I can never lose you. You and Dali mean more to me than my own life.” Felicity’s eyes teared up again and they clogged her throat. She was stunned.

He gently placed his fingers under her chin to raise her eyes to his own. “I spoke to Laurel the morning after Dali called you on the phone. I told her I was going to file the next day, and after a little protesting she finally admitted it was for the best. I told her I was going to file and that I was going to go for joint custody.”

“And she agreed?” She finally spoke, her voice incredulous.

“Not at first. She was angry. She hated the thought of Dali spending time with you and I, happy. But she also knew that our marriage had been over for a long time. She even told me that she had been seeing someone.”

Ok, that news stunned her. Laurel was seeing someone? _Wow._

“I filed the next day and then that weekend I found an apartment. I was hoping to show it to you tonight.” He looked at her hopefully, the love for her blossoming in his chest as he told her that he was now free. He was free to be with her.

“Oliver...I…. I don’t know what to say.” She needed to think, this was all too much. She had been waiting for this day for over seven years and now that it was here it was overwhelming. That along with the emotions of this being their last TV episode were culminating into a firestorm in her head. She had to think.

“Say that you love me. Say that you still want to be with me.” Oliver seemed a little confused. Why was she not more excited? This was what they both had been waiting for, wasn’t it?

“I do love you. Of course I love you.” 

Oliver stood too. “But?”

“But…..” What was she going to say? “But this doesn’t mean that we can be together right now.” There she had said it.

Oliver frowned. “I know we need to take this slow and some time needs to pass, but this is a start Felicity. Other than sharing Dali, Laurel is no longer a part of my life.”

Felicity gripped the divorce papers to the point of wrinkling them. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and have him take her to bed right now. But something was still holding her back. Oliver could see her struggling and he stepped closer and cupped her face.

“Felicity I love you so much. Please don’t say I am too late.” His eyes were holding fear and hurt as she stayed silent.

She placed her hands over his, the papers crinkling with her movement. “I love you Oliver. But I am overwhelmed. I need some time to figure out what this means for me. Can you give me that?”

Her eyes were pleading and everything in Oliver’s body was telling him to kiss her senseless. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to take her in his arms and never let her go again. He had missed her so much. But that was not what was best for her right now.

He sucked in a deep breath and then said the words that felt like they were stuck in his throat. “Ok. But promise me after the party that you will come to my apartment and we can talk some more.”

She nodded. “I promise.”

Oliver was still worried, but he was satisfied for now. He leaned down and kissed her softly, once, then twice. He felt the energy between them start to shift and he knew if he did not leave now, they would end up in bed. Felicity would regret that.

His hands fell away as he moved passed her to the door. He turned for a moment and seeing the stiffness of her shoulders he said the only thing he could say at that moment.

“I love you.”

Felicity kept her back to him knowing that if she turned and looked at him, she would ask him to stay. She just could not do that right now. She heard the door click as it closed behind him and then she collapsed onto the couch. The papers wrinkled in her hand as she sobbed. 

He had finally done it. He had divorced Laurel. He was free. 

But where did they go from here?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After writing, Anna and I figured we have two more chapters for you to read. This story has taken on such a life of it's own and we want to give it a proper conclusion. 
> 
> So hope you guys enjoy this update.

It took Felicity another hour, sitting on the couch in her trailer before she could even begin to think straight. She looked at the papers she was holding. There was Oliver’s signature, Laurel’s signature, some official’s handwriting at the bottom, and a stamped number showing where the legal documentation could be found, officially.

Above those signatures were paragraphs of legal-ease stating that this marriage was dissolved. Irreconcilable differences. Why did those words hurt _her_? Was that really what broke up Oliver’s marriage, or was it...her? 

She swallowed the lump in her throat about a dozen times, yet it kept returning. She thought about Oliver’s words, _“I am officially divorced. And Felicity? I can never lose you. You and Dali mean more to me than my own life.”_

Those words…’haunt’ wasn’t the best way to describe how they were hitting her… they were more than slightly overwhelming.

Felicity had to stop for a moment and stare blankly at the paper. For years she had thought about how she would react to the news that she and Oliver could be together, truly together. Now, he had said the words and she held the proof in her hands. 

But what did that mean? Did it mean Oliver was going to propose to her? Would she have to decide about marrying him tonight? _Oh God_ … she had agreed to go see his apartment after the party. She should let him know not to rush things.

And yet, on the other side of this coin, her heart was racing. Her palms were sweating. He had given her the sweetest two kisses as he left her trailer. Their first two kisses they could share without any guilt or regret… and she let him walk out the door.

“Well, fuck, what have I done?” she stared toward the door of her trailer and shook her head. _“But this doesn’t mean we can be together right now?”_ Did she really tell him that? What the hell was she thinking?

Felicity took a deep breath and reached for her phone. She couldn’t make sense of her feelings. They were wavering back and forth so much that she was almost ready to call Oliver to come back and help her understand. Instead, she hit a different number, one she trusted who had helped her since this relationship began.

“John?” her voice quivered. “Help, please?”

***

It was less than three minutes before another knock sounded on her door. This time she was sure it was the man she expected. This time when she opened the door to her darker-skinned friend, she melted into his arms before she invited him into the trailer. 

Why hadn’t she just done that with Oliver? _Oh, yeah, that’s why she was confused._

“Talk to me,” John ordered gently as he released her from their embrace and walked to the couch. Felicity paced in front of him.

“He did it, John,” she put her thumbnail in her mouth, then took it out and bit on her bottom lip. She picked up the papers Oliver had given to her and held them up for their friend to see. “He is divorced...from Laurel...he ended his marriage.” She stopped and looked him square in the eye.

John nodded. “I know,” he said calmly. 

“I didn’t think… When I told him, I was leaving the show and going to work in New York… I thought he would just…”

“Let you go?” John finished her thought. “Felicity, Sweetheart, the man is head-over-heels in love with you. You know his heart. A few thousand miles aren’t going to make him fall _out_ of love. Is that what you were hoping?”

Felicity didn’t answer immediately but she breathed in and out slowly.

“Felicity?” John asked again.

“I _think_ I hoped _I..._ could,” she looked into John’s face and shook her head.

“Why?” he wondered.

“I didn’t think he would divorce her,” Felicity finally spoke her fear honestly. “Even after all these years, all the talks we’ve had… even after all the times I’ve seen how Laurel has treated or ignored him… I still...I thought they had found a way to live together, you know, to make it work, for Dali, separate bedrooms… I didn’t think he loved me enough to…”

“And now?” John looked at her with a more fatherly gaze. He crossed his large arms loosely over his chest. “Felicity, when he got back from New York, a few weeks ago, he was scared as hell that he was going to lose you. He knew. He told me that the only way he could keep you in his life was to make the break from Laurel. He had gotten too comfortable with having his cake and eating it too. You made him realize that.”

Felicity nodded as she thought again of their time at the bed and breakfast, the fact that Oliver had cut out of work to come check on her. It was when she realized yet again that she loved him and why.

“Are you in love with him...or not?” John asked flat out.

Felicity nodded slowly. “I do,” she finally said. “I think I’m just in shock that…” she held up the papers again, “it’s really over. He really divorced her.”

John nodded. “So, what’s the problem?”

Felicity laughed. “I’m nervous,” she smiled slightly. “I want to go to him right now and run away. But I just told him we still couldn’t be together, not right now.”

“You what?” John sighed heavily. “He brought those to you to prove the divorce is done and you pushed him away?”

“Just for a few months...just till things settle down,” Felicity tried to explain.

“Mmm-hmm,” John shook his head. “You still going to this shindig tonight?”

Felicity nodded wondering about his sudden topic change.

“Oliver still going?” John continued and Felicity nodded.

“You going’ back to his apartment after the party?”

Again, she nodded at him and John gave a sarcastic laugh.

“John!” Felicity griped at him. “Oliver and I still need to talk about this. I’m just beginning to wrap my head around it. Of course, I love him. But I still have a play to do in New York. I can’t just dump my responsibilities.”

John Diggle held up his hands in surrender. “No?” John gave her a skeptical look to which Felicity tilted her head with a _‘think about it,’_ kind of look. “Alright. I get it. Just let me know when you two need to leave tonight to go... _talk_.”

Felicity rolled her eyes. And then she smiled softly. “He’s a free man, John. I can’t quite wrap my head around it.”

John smiled. “Felicity, he’s free to be yours now. He doesn’t want to let you go. Don’t you let go of him.”

She nodded. “I won’t. I’m not sure how we’re going to figure things out, but I won’t let go.”

***

Oliver left his trailer and headed back toward his apartment to get ready for the party. He was still a little confused by Felicity’s reaction. But he reminded himself that the divorce was a surprise to her and perhaps she needed a little time to fully understand.

She had agreed to come back to his new place after tonight’s cast party. That was a positive...except for the fact he had no furniture besides a barstool at his kitchen counter, a bean bag and tv in the living room, and the mattress on the bed frame in his bedroom. Perhaps he should’ve thought about that second barstool at the least.

He shook his head and found a way to smile. Along the walk home he stopped in a liquor store and picked up a bottle of champagne and two wine glasses. He figured they could toast to their future - because, damn it, they would have one, together.

Oliver left the store with positive thoughts. Felicity was there, in Vancouver. He would see her again in just a couple of hours. And whatever happened when they came back to his empty apartment, could happen without any worries or guilt.

***

Oliver walked into the bar in a t-shirt and jeans. He saw any number of people that he knew. Several tried to pull him into conversations, but he was only looking for one person. He heard her laugh first and followed the melodious sound to a table toward the back. And when he laid eyes on her his heart sped up while he just stared at her smiling face.

She was beautiful in jeans and V-neck sweater she had chosen to wear. He wondered if she had picked up the top in New York. He didn’t recall her wearing it before tonight. Oliver realized with Felicity, he wanted to remember things like this, and he wanted to comment on them. 

The bright pink fuzz with black zig-zags dotting the material brought out the little bit of redness left in her hair. He smiled again, wanting to ask her to put the pink highlight’s back in her blonde tresses and then wear that sweater. She would look bold, in his opinion, and he admired a bold Felicity. 

Since she hadn’t noticed him yet - he thought - he took his time, making his way over to the table but stopped several steps short when John came to him. 

“She’s laughing,” Oliver took the beer his friend offered. “That’s a plus, right?”

John nodded. “Give her a little bit to let the divorce news sink in. She’s happy about it, I promise, man. It’s a good surprise, she’s just wondering what it means...for her.”

The two men looked at the object of Oliver’s affections and stared for a moment. Oliver figured there must have been some kind of chat between John and Felicity that he had missed. In this case, once again, he figured he should just be thankful she turned to their mutual friend. So, he accepted a pat on the back from John with a nod of understanding and then headed toward her table. 

He grinned widely as two of their co-stars acknowledged him with a handshake, a hug and a quick shift to make room for Oliver to sit next to Felicity. 

“Hey!” Felicity offered when he slid in beside her.

“Hi,” Oliver bent his neck to place a simple kiss on her cheek. “Surprised to see me? What have I missed?”

Felicity blushed slightly but realized right away that he was just trying to keep things on a normal, even keel. She leaned her face toward his ear, “I knew you were here the minute you walked in the door. I’ve missed you,” she offered and returned a kiss to his cheek.

Oliver smiled. He suddenly wanted to take her by the hand and leave right then and there. Instead, they spent the next two hours next to each other but talking to their other coworkers and friends, bidding each other the best of luck in future projects and promising to see each other again.

It was a fun night. Being next to Oliver helped make it less emotional for Felicity. Although she shared a few tears with friends who had become like school classmates, she found herself thinking repeatedly that she did not have to say goodbye to the man next to her. At least not a permanent goodbye. 

Each time she had that thought, she found herself purposefully grasping lovingly at his bicep, laughing against his shoulder, simply leaning against him just to maintain contact. And his subtle but loving reactions to her, every time, sent a wave of pure warmth and happiness through her entire body.

A little after midnight Felicity caught John’s eye. Her friend knew exactly what the look meant. So, after another short minute or two John wandered back to the table and began chatting with the two crew members who had occupied the last 10 or 15 minutes of Oliver and Felicity’s conversation. As John got their attention, Felicity wrapped her arm around Oliver’s and waited for him to turn his face toward hers.

“I’m getting’ a little tired,” Felicity leaned her chin against his shoulder and Oliver gave her a soft kiss against her forehead.

“You ready to get outta here?” he offered.

She nodded with a light smile and a kiss to his shoulder as they both nonchalantly scooted their way out of the booth.

Oliver’s divorce wasn’t a widely publicized life-changing event. But anyone who knew him, and Felicity knew there was a slightly different charge in the air between the two of them as they said one last round of goodbyes and headed hand-in-hand toward Oliver's new home.


	11. Chapter 11

Oliver opened the door to his apartment and led her inside a little nervously. Was she going to like his new space? It was bare but it was home. He was planning to set up the second bedroom for Dali and hoped that Felicity would help him pick out a few things before she flew back to New York. 

He knew they still had so much to talk about, but just being alone with her here, in his apartment, was making him happier than he had been in a very long time.

“Welcome to my new home.” He closed the door behind her, and he could see the smile on her face as she looked around his bare furnishings. 

“Why am I looking at this thinking it is _sooo_ you?” She laughed at the bean bag chair.

“Because my apartment shows just how lost I am without you,” Oliver smiled, and Felicity turned to him.

“We still have a lot to talk about Oliver.”

“I know we do, but can I _please_ kiss you first? I have been wanting to kiss you properly all... evening... long.” He sidled closer to her and she gave him a sideways look before she accepted his closeness and then she was wrapped up in his arms. It was like coming home.

She sighed softly as she melted into him and ran her fingers up through his hair. She loved that he had let it grow back out and as she started to think of gripping it and tugging it, she had to stop herself. They really needed to talk first.

She pulled back and when Oliver broke the kiss his eyes had darkened, and his breathing had quickened. 

“Ok, yeah….so we need to talk.” He rambled a little and she laughed at how out of sorts he was after their kiss. It was exactly the way he always made her feel.

He looked around trying to figure out where they would sit. “Umm, I think the only place I have that will be comfortable for both of us is the bed.”

She gave him a shrewd look. “Oliver…”

“I’ll keep my hands to myself. Scouts honor.” He held up his hand and after a moment of thinking about it she finally agreed. They could each stay on opposite sides of the bed and at least they would both be comfortable. 

Oliver led her into the bedroom, and she smiled again when she saw the sparse furnishings. “Ok Mr. Queen. Before I leave you and I are going shopping, because if I am going to be visiting this place, I need furniture.”

Oliver’s eyebrows rose and he allowed himself to smile softly at her choice of words. She would be visiting him. They would be seeing each other. That was all he needed to hear.

She took off her shoes and sat on the bed as Oliver did the same but on the opposite side. She looked at him and then took his hand in hers. It felt good to touch him without a small ounce of guilt trying to worm its way in. “First of all, I am sorry for how I acted earlier when you gave me the papers. I was just shocked. I have loved you for 6 years and the fact that you were suddenly free; that I could love you with no guilt or remorse was overwhelming.”

He gave her a slightly confused look, so she hurriedly said, “But in a good way.” Oliver smiled.

“Oliver, I have dreamed of the day when I could walk up to you and kiss you in public, just because I wanted to.” 

“I have wanted that too, Felicity, for so long.”

“And now you are no longer married, we have nothing to hide.”

He squeezed her hand. “I know.” He gave her a small, loving smile.

“But...we are going to have to keep our relationship a secret for just a little while longer. We can’t just jump into something. I told you when we were together at the Bed & Breakfast that it would be awhile after your divorce before we could start seeing each other _publicly_. I don’t want to be accused of coming between you and Laurel.”

Oliver shifted closer to her. He could not help it. She was like the earth to his moon, and he could not help but gravitate toward her. “Felicity, I know your reputation is important to you, it is important to me too. I spoke with my agent and when she releases the news of my divorce, she is going to make sure that the reason is known. And that the reason is not you.”

Felicity gave him an unsure look. She knew how the press could twist things and she knew her name would be brought up.

He finally scooted over until they were sitting side by side. “I promise you that things will be handled the right way and any attempts to bring you into the story will be stopped immediately.” He smiled softly. “I also know that you have responsibilities in New York that you cannot just give up. You made commitments and I respect that. But now that I am free, I don’t want to waste one minute of our time together. So, I have a proposal.”

She looked at him with wide eyes. _Oh, dear God, a proposal?_ Felicity gasped, “Oliver?”

He looked at her and saw the touch of fear in her face. “Oh! Felicity, no! I’m sorry - maybe that’s the wrong choice of words… It’s not _that_ kind of proposal...not, not yet at least.” Oliver looked down but was happy to hear her slowly letting out the breath she was holding.

Felicity took a moment, thinking about what he had said. He wasn’t fighting her, and he was not demanding she move to Vancouver. What was the handsome devil up to? What kind of proposal did he have in mind?

“Ok.” The word came out hesitantly and it made Oliver grin. But when he saw the apprehension still in her eyes, he turned serious. 

“I will agree for you to go back to New York and finish the play, as long as I can come and see you as often as I choose. I know it will be awhile before we can be seen in public, so we will continue to keep our relationship a secret until _you_ feel comfortable. I will leave making our relationship public up to you”

She looked at his blue eyes that were shining down at her so earnestly. The thought of not seeing him for weeks again made her heart ache. Now that he was free, she could not handle that. Suddenly she thought of something else.

“What are you going to tell Dali?”

He smiled a genuine smile. “She and I have already talked, and she understands that you have obligations in New York. But I had to promise her to bring her out to visit you.”

Felicity felt love at the mention of the little girl. She knew things were hard for Dali to understand. Just the fact that Oliver was keeping her involved in everything and was going to bring her to New York made Felicity realize that things were going to be different from now on. 

Felicity leaned forward and wound her arms around his neck, giving him a kiss that almost curled his toes. She started to climb up onto his lap and he put his hands on her hips and held her still. 

“What are you doing? I mean I am not complaining but….”

“I am giving you my answer.” She smiled as she settled on his lap.

“You're giving me your….is that a yes?” Oliver’s eyes turned hopeful. 

“Yes, Oliver. I love you so very much and the fact that you are now free... Free to be... _mine_.” She looked into his eyes with an earnest hope. “That is the best present you could have ever given me.”

Oliver gently cupped her face and pulled her down into another kiss. It was sweet and slow and sexy and when Felicity moaned into it, they both felt it in their bones. 

***

Oliver turned her quickly and when her back hit the bed she laughed. They both felt it had been too long since they had been together. 

As he settled between her legs, she opened to him and he leaned his head down and kissed her deeply. Their emotions for each other came spilling out as they both clung to each other. For the first time they were going to make love as two single adults, only attached to each other. They would not have Oliver’s marriage hanging over their heads and it was heightening every touch and sound.

They smiled almost shyly at one another as each slowly undressed the other and their hands and lips refused to be apart for more than a second. Felicity knew Oliver’s body as well as she knew her own, but she took her time, appreciating every single muscle and every valley. She wanted to enjoy being with him after the time they had spent apart and when they were both naked and he settled on top of her again, their sighs of pleasure were simultaneous.

Felicity shivered as Oliver’s scruff scraped down her neck. She had missed that feeling and when his lips brushed behind her ear she giggled. _God how he loved her laugh_. It was light and infectious, and he hit the spot again just to hear the sound.

They were both so carefree for the first time and it added dimensions of playfulness to their lovemaking. But when Felicity felt him growing hard against her and her hardened nipples brushed against his chest, her moan changed things. They both grew more ardent as their hands roamed and touched and things became heated.

Oliver relished every soft curve of her body as he kissed his way down her chest. With their feelings heightened, he wanted to remember every inch of her. He slipped his lips over her nipple and she arched toward him making him groan. He had missed her hands in his hair tugging and pulling as her body moved underneath him. He had missed the way her soft moans made his body harden with just the sound. But more importantly he missed the way their bodies were perfectly matched. They were made for one another and no one would ever convince him otherwise.

He sucked and tugged, a smile curving his lips that surrounded her breast as he worked her up. Her breasts were particularly sensitive for her, so he worked the first one over before moving to do the same to the other. 

Felicity squirmed in pleasure as Oliver’s lips worshipped her body. He was so good with his mouth that when he slipped lower down her body and gently nipped her hipbone, she cried out. Her body was wet for him already, but she knew he was not ready to give in to her, yet. Oliver always loved to bring her to orgasm before entering her. He said that her body pulsing wet and hot around him as he entered her was otherworldly.

He settled his upper body between her thighs placing gentle kisses to each one. Felicity’s hips arched, begging, and Oliver could not deny her. He parted her with his fingers and slid his tongue along her heat, tasting and teasing her. 

Nothing in the world tasted like Felicity. She was sweet and unique and his one addiction. So, when he first slid his tongue inside of her and she whimpered he quickly decided to repeat his action over and over again. 

Felicity felt like she was going to fly apart as he continued to work her body. He was a master and she was his instrument, and as he slid his tongue in and out over and over her orgasm hit more suddenly than she expected. She cried out his name, her body shuddering breathlessly under his attention. Because he loved her response to him, Oliver continued relentlessly until she collapsed back on the bed, her hands still gripping his hair tightly.

Oliver pulled back reluctantly and gently kissed her thighs again, feeling them quiver beneath his lips. It made him happy when he pleased her and so he slowly kissed his way back up her body. He kissed her on the lips and then started to get up from the bed. 

“Where are you going?” She couldn’t believe he was moving with her lying there completely under his spell. Felicity somehow willed her body to move, wrapping her arms and legs around him, causing Oliver to collapse back onto her with a laugh. 

He tickled her ribs and she laughed so hard that he was finally able to stand. He looked down at her laying on the bed and just took in her beauty. 

“Don’t move.” He gave her a stern look and she leaned up on her elbows and watched him move with effortless ease back into the living room. He was so very comfortable with his body and that feeling always washed over to her when they were together. He made her feel like she was the most exquisite woman in the world.

He returned a few moments later carrying two champagne glasses and a bottle of bubbly. 

She laughed, “What is this?”

Oliver sat the glasses on the floor and then proceeded to open the bottle. “Well I thought we had reason to celebrate.” He poured two glasses and handed her a glass. He held up his hand in a toast and she looked into his loving eyes.

“To us.” Oliver began. “I love you so much, Felicity, and the thought of getting to spend the rest of my life with you and with my daughter makes me the happiest man in the whole world.Thank you for being patient and waiting for me.” 

“I love you too Oliver.” They clinked glasses and then took a sip and Felicity moved up onto her knees and took his glass. 

“What are you doing?” Oliver reached for his glass, but she held it away and set it on the floor beside the bed. She then grabbed her glass and pushed him back on the bed, climbing her naked body on top of his. Straddling his hips, she let her core sit right over his cock as she gave him a wicked grin. 

“I am going to worship you now.” She nibbled on her bottom lip as her eyes moved up and down his torso.

He watched, mesmerized as her tongue slipped between her teeth while she concentrated. She moved back slightly and then dipped her finger into her champagne as she thought of exactly what she wanted to do. She sucked the liquid from her finger with a seductive wink before she dipped her finger into the sweet liquid again and then used it to circle his nipple. Oliver started to pant as he watched her do it a second time.

She tilted her glass slightly, letting the golden liquid pool on his chest and she bit her bottom lip as she watched it trail down to his abs. She leaned down and started to lick the liquid as it hit her favorite parts of his body and Oliver’s groan made her grin widely.

She could feel his body coming back to life behind her and she wiggled her ass making it twitch strongly. 

“Felicity honey, please.” His breathing was making talking difficult and so she took a swig of the liquid into her mouth and then moved between his legs. Before he could tell what she was doing he felt some of the liquid leaking out of her mouth onto his sensitive tip. She leaned down further and took his cock into her mouth. The chilled sensation of the champagne combined with the warmth of her mouth made him close his eyes with a moan. She swallowed the rest of her drink and the movement against his cock made him swell even more inside her mouth.

“Jesus baby.” 

He was starting to lose control and Felicity kept pushing him closer to the brink. She sucked and licked him from tip to base and when he leaned his head up and saw her golden curls spread out over his body, he could not stop himself from coming hard. He released into her mouth, his body jerking as she refused to slow her mouth and when she could feel he had released everything he had, she lifted away with a grin. 

Oliver collapsed back on the bed completely spent. Their time together was not over. He had more he wanted to do with her and to her, but he needed to rest. He pulled her up to lay on top of him, her head underneath his chin, their bodies fitting like two puzzle pieces. 

“I cannot wait until I can do that whenever I want.” Her voice came out soft and light and Oliver laughed, his body shaking. He laughed so long that she finally lifted her head and frowned up at him.

“What is so funny?”

“Honey, I think you are going to kill me before this is all said and done.” He gently stroked her back as Felicity snuggled against him again. 

“Don’t die until I get to try out a few other fantasies with you,” she suggested and felt him suck in a breath.

“You’ve had fantasies about us?” he wondered like a teenage boy. “Like...what?” he ventured to ask.

“Tsk-tsk,” she laughed through her nose, her breath warming his chest. “If I tell you now, you won’t be surprised by them _when_ I want to play them out.”

He let his breath out slowly, completely exhaling as he could only imagine what kind of thoughts were going through her mind.

“Well are we talking location fantasies, or like, kinky fanfiction kind of scenarios?”

Felicity laughed and pushed herself up off his chest smiling widely as she looked into his eyes. “Are you scared, Mister Queen? What if it’s a kinky fanfiction type fantasy in some far-off location?” Her eyes widened with a little mischievous gleam.

Oliver put his forearm under his head as he watched her, completely relaxed. “I’m not scared,” he smiled at her, watching her facial expressions. “You know what, I’m excited…”

“Well that I know!” Felicity moved her hip against his now-shortened length that always found a way to come back to life with her simplest touch.

“Not _that_ kind of excited...well, yeah…” Oliver rolled his eyes, “part of it is _that_ kind of excited… But I just can’t wait to be with you, wherever in the world we go, whatever in the world we choose to do. I’m just excited to be with you.” 

His expression took a more serious turn as his words came from his heart. That’s what he had wanted for years and she had given him the push and courage he needed to make _them_ a reality.

Felicity followed suit, her eyes losing just a hint of their playfulness as she stared into his. “I love you Oliver Queen,” she shared before dipping her head and sharing a kiss with them that had both of their heads buzzing more intensely than any alcohol ever could.

They christened his mattress with champagne and lovemaking one more time before both clung to each other, sweat-drenched and unwilling to break contact.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going back to your apartment tonight, or your trailer,” Oliver practically whispered with the memory of just how she had taken his breath away, again.

“I didn’t think I had to,” Felicity countered.

“My point exactly,” Oliver rolled onto his side, wrapped an arm over her hip and pulled her to him like an oversized stuffed animal. “You’re not going anywhere, you’re not putting on any clothes, and maybe when we wake up in the morning, we can do this all over again.”

He closed his eyes and kissed her shoulder. Felicity smiled to herself and pulled his arm up to rest just under her breasts. She would gladly accept his instructions and couldn’t wait to wake up in his arms in the morning.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate the phrase "All good things must come to an end", but it is true in this case. Thank you so much for those of you who read this fic, cheered it on and truly enjoyed it as much as Anna and I enjoyed writing it. Each time I write these two they bring a smile to my face and if we can do the same for you it is well worth it. Anna and I will be collaborating again the future so stay tuned.
> 
> I hope you guys like the last chapter and that it gives you the ending you and we know they deserve. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Felicity awoke with a strong arm draped over her hip and a familiar hand splayed across her belly button which now held a thin, circular ring in the shape of an arrow. It had been one of her guilty pleasures over the past year that she had spent mainly on the east coast.

She smiled in pure, unadulterated pleasure as she placed her own hand over his and wove her fingers with his. He had come to see her play, the final performance. She hadn’t been sure that he would make it with his current projects, including Dali’s school time now.

But Oliver had been there, and he had made it worthwhile.

***

**A YEAR BEFORE**

“I am agreeing that you can go back to New York, but I do have a few terms I’d like to discuss,” Oliver had whispered in her ear when he woke her up the night they spent on the mattress in his new apartment in Vancouver.

Felicity rolled her naked body over and looked him square in the eye which was a slightly blurry view since she had had no chance to put her contacts in. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Terms? The only thing I remember you saying last night before I let you take advantage of me was something about you getting to come to see me in New York whenever you wanted to. That’s the only term I agreed to.” Felicity placed the tip of her index finger on his chin and scraped her nail through his scruff before adding her thumb under his chin to hold his attention.

“I just want to make sure we are on the same page,” his voice softened to more of a ‘please hear me out’ kind of tone instead of the businessman making deals. “Felicity, first off, I don’t want to let you go. If going back to New York means that I lose you, then I can’t let you out of this bed. Yes, I divorced Laurel because I fell in love with you. Yes, it was something I should’ve done a couple of years ago, all things considered. Yes, I was an idiot for not seeing it sooner and not leaving sooner because maybe…just maybe…that would’ve made a difference in our – mine and your – relationship.” He stopped and took in a breath and Felicity felt his hand tighten against her hip.

“I want to know…no, I need to know…as you head back to New York, are we working on a long-distance relationship? Or are you thinking of a relationship that’s more open than that? Because honestly, I cannot imagine the thought of you being with someone else now. Period.” He again breathed and now was pressing his fingers into her bare skin hard enough to likely leave red marks at the least.

“And I need to know when you’ll come back home, to me, or if that’s not part of your plan.”

Oliver stopped. After their previous night of lovemaking, holding her and simply being together he didn’t want to let her go again. He knew, they had discussed her returning to New York, her doing the play, her…plans. As they had fallen asleep, he began wondering and worrying about how he fit into her plans…did he fit into her plans.

As she had needed the divorce to take place, he needed reassurance that this wasn’t the end for them.

Felicity could read the fear and uncertainty in his eyes. She realized as they talked about the future – the near future at least – the discussion was more about him coming to visit her, or her visiting this apartment – which desperately did need furniture. More than that, she realized that she needed to provide him with a reason to keep believing.

“Oliver, I love you.” She took that very instant to press her lips against his. She held the kiss for a long minute before moving and without making it anything deeper.

“I am lying here in your bed, naked. I’ve given myself to you, body and soul, on a deeper level than I’ve ever experienced with any other person in my life. You know more about me than I know about myself, I suspect, and I cannot stand the thought of leaving this bed if you have any doubts about us having a future together.”

She took a moment to let the words settle in his mind before she kissed him again. This time her kiss was a little more fervent, the hint of her tongue tasting his lips, the feel of her hand reaching down to grasp his buttock, just for good measure.

“You know that I need to go back to New York to prove to myself that I can do this. It is taking everything in me not to say ‘The show is done, come with me...’ or ‘Screw it, I’ll come back home…’ But if I give in to either of those urges…if you come with me and stay with me, or if I give in and come back home, I’m always going to wonder if I could do this or not.”

Oliver nodded. That made perfect sense. And to let her know that he understood, he placed a soft kiss against her forehead and then pulled away, waiting to hear what else she wanted to say.

“On the other side of that,” Felicity licked her lips as she thought, “me being away will make it easier for us to keep our distance while the news of your divorce comes out and settles down. I know there will be questions and finger pointing and God I only hope Laurel will keep her head about this and not be a bitch…” her voice trailed off as she realized how that must’ve sounded, but a look into Oliver’s face and the amused smile he wore spoke volumes. “I’m not going across the continent to get away from you, but to stay away from you for just a little while…months, maybe, at the most a year depending on how things are going. But in those months, in that year, it’s me and you. Nobody else.”

Oliver smiled with a little more confidence. “Me and you?”

Felicity nodded. “And if I catch wind of some 20-something actress swinging over elevator shafts with you or trying to learn to do the salmon ladder for you, I will be back on this side of the country in a heartbeat and ready to kick ass. And you know I can do it. I’ll kick your ass all the way back to New York.” She poked at his chest and was thrilled to hear him chuckle at her threat.

She was even more thrilled when he tightened his hold around her and rolled onto his back, perching her right on top of him.

“Me and you,” Oliver repeated, and she nodded. “Pinky swear,” he held up his little finger and waited for her to join her small digit with his.

Instead, Felicity pushed herself up off his chest slightly and looked into his eyes. “Pinky swear?” she questioned. “You’d better damn well plan on consummating these terms Mister. And I want you to make love to me until you’re sure you know every inch of me, inside and out.”

She smiled, licked her tongue over the edge of her teeth and then grazed her teeth over her lower lip. “So, start at the top and work your way down. I want to take something back to the Big Apple with me that I can show off, at least a little bit, from the man I love.”

Oliver grinned widely. There was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

***

“I don’t want it to be a year, alright?” Oliver stated with a little setback to the insecurity he had that morning. “I want to see you every month and I want us to figure out how we can be together in less than a year. I don’t think I can take being apart from you for that long.”

Felicity sighed. She had seen his attitude declining over the past hour as they cooked dinner and sat down to eat. She had wondered what was going through his mind and was almost ready to ask when he started talking.

“That may be hard to accomplish, every month. I don’t know about play schedules…you don’t know what you’ll be involved with and Oliver, Dali starts school. You won’t want to miss a minute of whatever she gets into.”

Oliver pouted. “You sound again like you want to be away from me.”

Felicity tilted her head in a motherly look. “I enjoy our sex too much to stay away from you indefinitely,” she rolled her eyes.

“Felicity, I’m serious,” Oliver continued with a touch of an outstretched lower lip and nostrils twitching.

“I’m just saying that every month might not be possible, that’s all. I don’t want to promise you I’ll be here and then break my promise because of a show schedule. I don’t want to get my hopes up because it’s almost the 15th of the month and you’re supposed to be knocking on my door. I’m just saying let’s take it one step at a time. We can talk every day and we will figure this out.” She offered with an impassioned voice.

“I have a key,” Oliver looked down at the fork he was holding and then glanced back at Felicity.

“What?” she wondered, again with a motherly kind of glare.

“I just…I probably won’t need to knock because I’ve still got the key you gave me to your apartment so I can just show up if I want to,” Oliver explained.

Felicity rolled her eyes. “If you do that, I want twelve dozen roses scattered across the apartment and you naked in the bed when I get home.”

Oliver grinned at her. “Challenge accepted!” He stared into her eyes. “But I still can’t wait a full year. That’s not acceptable.”

Felicity took in a deep breath and shook her head. “We will talk about it.”

Oliver smiled like a little boy on the verge of getting his way. “Hey, I thought of something else,” he got up from the table and went into the bedroom for a moment.

Felicity sat and watched, waiting for him to return, to hear what he had to say.

“Earlier, you said something about taking something with you that you could show off, from the man you love,” he called from the bedroom. “I’d really prefer that you not show off those hickeys.”

Felicity scoffed, “At least one is at the bikini line,” she called to him, “and - hey,” she tugged at the neck of his t-shirt that she was wearing and peeked down at her breasts. “I think that one is far enough off my nipple that I could just wear something low cut and – “

“No, Sweetheart!” She heard from the bedroom and couldn’t help but smile. “No low-cut anything unless I’m there with you. And no showing off that bikini line mark. It’s small. Somebody would have to be right up on you to see it. And if a face is that close…” He finally emerged from the bedroom with a hand behind his back as he leaned toward her face and kissed her, “it better be mine!”

Oliver quickly sat back down in his seat at the table and put a small jewelry box between them.

Felicity sucked in a breath, “Oliver?” she was slightly worried about the contents of said box.

“It’s not what you think. I’m not there either but open the box. I think I’ve got a compromise of sorts,” he tapped his index finger on the top of the box and pushed it closer to her.

Felicity slowly took the box and opened it, revealing two matching bands. She stared at them for a minute and then looked back at Oliver with curious eyes. “Are these…”

Oliver nodded. “I might have borrowed them without the intention of returning them…”

“Archer and Overwatch’s wedding bands,” Felicity couldn’t help the tears that formed in her eyes. “Oliver…”

“Hey, listen for a minute, okay?” He reached across the table and pulled Felicity’s character’s ring out of the box. It had been fitted to her; the ring, for all intents and purposes, was made for Felicity. “I can either wear this on my pinky,” he slipped it onto his little finger and held it up, “Look, fits me perfectly! Or,” he pulled a chain from his pocket, “I can wear it around my neck. I take your ring, you take mine. All anyone knows for sure is that they are mementos from the set. But you and I know, this is us, together, wherever we are.”

Felicity swallowed the lump in her throat and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Why did you grab these?” She wondered honestly.

Oliver smiled softly. “Because this is you and me. Our show, our relationship, me and you. We made those characters Felicity. The writers may have given us ideas, but you and I grew those characters. There is so much of us in Overwatch and Archer - and their wedding bands… They came through hell together and still ended up together. Can you think of a better couple to be like?”

Felicity reached out and took his hand with a shake of her head. She pulled Archer’s ring from the box. “Yes,” she said simply, and Oliver dipped his eyebrows wondering what she meant.

“Yes?” he finally asked.

“Yes, it’s a great idea. I get your ring and you get mine. And when we finally are together…really together…we switch back,” Felicity looked at his happy face, blinked back her tears and smiled at him. “I love it. I love you.”

***

**PRESENT DAY**

She had left for New York the next afternoon with Archer’s ring around her neck. She played with it as she stood in the security line at the airport, she held it as she sat in her seat on the plane and when she got back to her New York apartment she slipped her smaller finger through the ring and stared at it for almost an hour.

The first few weeks after Oliver’s publicist announced his divorce had been a whirlwind of speculation and derogatory comments. There had been talk about he and Felicity, but Oliver’s publicist had squashed that immediately with a statement from Oliver. Of course, Felicity also had taken a hiatus from social media during that time. Seeing all the comments of the women that were hoping they might have a chance with the newly divorced Oliver Queen was too much for her to handle. 

Still, Oliver made sure to talk to Felicity every day during that time with assurances that he loved her. And, in turn, Felicity had found time to get back to Toronto and met Oliver there in order to reassure him that she wasn’t giving up on them or giving in to the chaos.

After that, they had seen each other seven more times over the past 11 months, 29 days. The last 45 days had been about the hardest that she had endured. They had argued about her doing this one last play. Dali had been crying in the background as they barbed back and forth with Oliver reminding her that he did not want to wait a full year to be with her.

Their eight visits had been short, no more than four days together, and all of them had been in private, enclosed spaces where they could enjoy each other but not much else. While that wasn’t a problem for them truthfully, with the space of time in between the visits, Oliver was ready to move forward putting their relationship into the light of day.

That’s why two days before that one-year mark, Oliver took himself to New York. He did not tell Felicity he was coming. He purchased thirteen dozen roses - he needed one dozen to hand to her - and coerced one of her co-stars in the play to sneak him into her dressing room after the play.

That’s where he waited for her, not naked and in bed as she had requested, but wearing a tuxedo with the hope that she would accept his next proposal as well.

Felicity laughed at something one of the crew said as she stepped into her dressing room. The first sight that hit her was the roses strewn all over the room. She couldn’t even get to her makeup table because of the red, pink and white flowers. “Oliver?”

She had spotted him during the play, on the third row, watching her intently. He never had been presumptuous enough to sit front and center. He wanted to watch her performance, not make a spectacle of himself.

Now he stood there holding a dozen roses for her with a nervous smile on his face. “I’m sorry we argued last month. I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner to see this play. I know it’s important to you and that should make it important to me. I don’t like arguing with you, you know that. And I hate arguing with you over the phone when I can’t see your face and I can’t touch you. That’s another reason I need you with me, Felicity.”

“What are you doing here?” She stepped toward him, standing in the middle of the room and took the flowers from him. Felicity put the flowers down on the small couch they were standing beside.

“I told you I couldn’t take a full year of being separated from you. In one of our conversations I know I warned you that I was going to come get you.”

“Oliver,” Felicity tried to interject, and he put his hand in the air to shush her.

“I’ve taken it as long as I can. I need to be able to come home to you at night and wake up with you in the morning, every morning. Not just three or four days every few months. I need to see you and Dali playing together and talking and snuggling up with that damn stuffed llama. I just need you, Felicity, please. Don’t make me wait any longer.”

Felicity smiled at him. “What are you proposing, Oliver?” She wrapped her arms around his neck but didn’t hesitate to show him her nervous smile.

“Do you want me to propose?” he pulled the ring off his pinky finger and held it up to show her the prop wedding band that he cherished.

Felicity swallowed a bit uncomfortably and Oliver noticed right away. Even when she pulled the chain from under her shirt collar and showed him the ring that she was wearing he simply smiled softly and kissed her cheek.

“Not yet…” he smiled. “Tonight, I propose we take a drive up to the Catskills, a certain bed and breakfast… It’s not a proposal...I’m not giving you an option, Felicity Smoak. You’re coming with me as soon as you can get changed. I’ve already got a bag packed for you -remember, I have a key to your apartment. 

Felicity smiled. “A B&B in the Catskills? Sounds intriguing."

Oliver smiled at her, “That’s one word you could use.”

“We’ll discuss some other words after I get changed?”

He nodded strongly but refused to let go of her. “Your play was amazing. You were amazing. I love you.”

Felicity gathered her things and then led Oliver out to say goodbye to the cast and stage hands. They would have a party in a few days to celebrate the end of what had turned out to be a very successful run.

She needed to go outside and sign a few autographs and as they were walking to the door that led outside, she suddenly stopped. Oliver almost ran into her.

“Babe you ok?” He looked down at her concerned as a thoughtful expression crossed her face.

She looked up at him and he saw something in her eyes he had not seen in a long time. Happiness. “I am wonderful.” She placed her hands on his arms and looked into his eyes. “I want to tell the world that we are together. I think enough time has passed and I don’t want to hide anymore.”

Oliver’s face lit up with a grin and he placed his hands on her cheeks. “Are you sure Felicity?”

She leaned up and kissed him softly. “Yes I am.”

She took his hand, led him outside and he stayed close as she signed autographs and hugged fans. There were murmurs flying around and cameras flashing, but for the first time neither one of them cared. They both knew the tabloids would be screaming about their relationship. Especially when he wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her soundly in front of every single fan. 

Now they could focus on their future and the little girl that meant so much to them both. Now they could take vacations together and hold hands walking down the street. They could go to a movie or to a bar and not have to act like they were just both in the same place at the same time. Now they could let the whole world know just how much they loved each other.

They now had their happy ending.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Curved Reality: New York Surprise - One Shot](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20082805) by [adcgordon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/adcgordon/pseuds/adcgordon)




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